Inconceivable
by BeingSecretive
Summary: Being a popular boy in high school with a strong Christian family makes it very difficult to be secretly gay. Unfortunately for Alec, spending a lot of time with Sebastian Morgenstern did not at all help his situation, as he was forced into a bet involving himself, a loss of virginity, and Magnus Bane. School-fic, Rated M for smut and language. Seb/Alec and Clace, but mainly MALEC.
1. Ready Player One

**HEY! So, this will be my first Malec fic and I'm pretty excited about it if I'm honest. I'm gonna see how well this first chapter does before I really think about the next one too much:)**

**There are little hints of Clace or whatever in there but the main plot of the story is revolved entirely around Malec, so chill out guys :)**

**Also, if you haven't read all of the Mortal Instruments and maybe even the Infernal Devices, DO NOT READ THIS FIC because I don't really know but there could be spoilers for both series in here at some point. Better safe than sorry!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Alec.**

As much as I despised him, I always found Sebastian incredibly hot. Maybe that was why I tortured myself with his presence daily, since despite he was one of the most infuriatingly arrogant people I'd ever met, he was attractive. Okay, admittedly, he wasn't really that bad, but he still not an entirely likeable person. Regardless, I met him in the hall after second period and went to our regular lunch table with him in the cafeteria. To my left was Sebastian and to his left was my little brother Jace. On my right sat Jordan, his hazel eyes glowing with delight to see us, but mostly to see Maia, who was to his immediate right and Jace's left on our circular table of five. We used to have an empty space until Jordan got a girlfriend and we all adjusted to having Maia around pretty quickly. She was just like one of the guys, so it was easy to have her around without things getting awkward, and she even made me feel a little more comfortable than I would without her there on occasions. For a while, I thought I was only comforted by her presence because she was the only one who could relate to me on the whole liking guys thing. Of course, Maia didn't know I swung that way; nobody did. I wasn't planning on telling anyone anytime soon, my reasoning being I'd only recently told myself.

Unfortunately, I figured we were the 'populars'. The kind of group that the rest of the school inwardly detests and wants to kill but has no choice but to be friendly towards. In different circumstances, maybe I'd be grateful, but having every single other student in your personal business all the time was very difficult when you had a secret as big as mine. Constantly, I was terrified.

Jace was looking particularly arrogant today. He sat with a huge grin plastered on his face as he pulled an apple out of his bag and Sebastian glanced over at him, quirking his eyebrow up in puzzlement.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked, leaning back on me and staring at Jace requesting an answer. I rested my elbows on Sebastian's shoulders and started fiddling with my phone in front of him. Sebastian, as he often did, took my phone straight from hand and started playing with it himself. I watched him idly before Jace started talking.

"Okay, I know I always say this kind of shit," I almost zoned out after hearing that but tried to keep my attention on what he was saying. "But I can honestly get anything I want from anyone because I'm just dripping with good looks!" He finished with a proud smirk in Sebastian's general direction, who quickly scoffed in response.

"Right. Jace, honestly, Alec could get in anyone's pants quicker than you. No offense pretty boy," Sebastian replied, patting my leg as if to justify his insulting words. I knew he didn't mean it because I was ugly or anything. He meant it because I was incredibly awkward and terrible at conversation in general, also a virgin and terrified to lose it. Still, it hurt a little.

"Oh really?" Jace mused, the smirk not leaving his face. "Why don't we see about that?"

At that, my head snapped up to attention because I could make it out what exact direction this was going in and it was an extremely terrible one.

"Yes." Sebastian agreed, mimicking Jace's evil grin. "Why don't we Alexander?"

"Sebastian.." I whimpered pathetically, protesting which they all laughed at and my cheeks were immediately tinted pink with embarrassment. Maia chirped up suddenly. She was the master of this kind of stuff; in a way, she lead the pack.

"Right! Here's how this is gonna work! Jace and Alec, you each have exactly 3 weeks to seduce and have sex with your designated partner. As for you Jace, that means Clary Morgenstern-"

"She hates me!?" Jace interrupted, flailing his arms for emphasis. A small giggle escaped Maia's lips and she shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Yes Jace, that's the point. Alec, your partner can be...Um, Camille Belcourt?"

"Oh shut up, that'll be easy as hell, she's obsessed with how 'beautiful' he is," Sebastian quickly snapped, shaking his head then running a hand through his pale blond hair and closing his eyes to show he was thinking. For a brief moment there was silence, and then, the light haired boy sparked up to life again. "Magnus Bane. Your partner is Magnus Bane."

"...He's a guy?" Jordan decided to contribute to the conversation. I was staring at Sebastian with wide eyes and, I was sure, a bright red face. Sometimes, it was like he just knew things. How he could possibly have picked up on my being gay was beyond me, but it was an incredibly scary thought.

"Well he just has to get him in bed. Not actually do anything. But quite honestly, he's the only person I can think of who's bitter enough to reject our little buttercup," I rolled my eyes at the nickname and shoved Sebastian off of me. The boy smiled smugly at me, and I was about to punch the smile off of his face when Maia spoke again.

"Well, are you up for it Alec!?" she herself sounded very enthusiastic about the whole ordeal and was looking at me expectantly, as was Sebastian. Jace looked arrogant, as he often did, the glint in his eye assuring me he knew he would win. Jordan did not look remotely interested, until I managed to spark his attention by simply nodding. Clearly, he did not think I'd be willing to participate because straight away, he looked from Jace to me to Sebastian and jumped up out of his seat slamming his hands down on the table.

"I propose I bet!" he yelled, before pointing at Jace. "I choose him. I bet Sebastian one kiss from Maia that Jace will get Clary before Alec gets Magnus." This received a punch in the arm from Maia, but she didn't protest or complain any further so it was accepted that she would give the prize if necessary. The corner of Sebastian's mouth jerked up into a crooked grin and he nodded slowly to himself.

"Alright. And what exactly do you want from me? A kiss from my pretty boy?" he patted my back and I almost flinched away from his touch but compelled myself not to, knowing they would laugh at and humiliate me again. In an instant, Jordan clarified that he would not be requesting any part of me, but rather $100 from Sebastian and to everyone's surprise, the pale blond boy agreed to this within seconds. Clearly, he hadn't thought this through very well at all. "Does this however insinuate that we will be allowed to mentor them?" He asked Jordan politely and I suddenly feared for my reputation. With Sebastian guiding me through flirting with Magnus Bane; I was as good as dead in the eyes of my fellow peers.

"Fuck yeah! Oh God, this is gonna be perfect! Easy!" Quickly, there was a seat change so that Jordan could sit with Jace and discuss Clary. In the meantime, Sebastian was staring down at me with a look I could only describe as predatory. He knew he was going to ruin me. Not only did he know however, he wouldn't stop at just having the knowledge, he also very blatantly found it all very hilarious.

"Oh, just to clarify, it has to be entirely consensual," Sebastian looked away from me momentarily to announce this to the group. His harsh gaze fell directly on Jace and if I were him, I'd be trembling with fear because Sebastian was giving him THAT look. "If you touch my sister anywhere she doesn't like I'll burn you." Audibly gulping, Jace nodded, as did the rest of the group.

"Your time starts now!" Maia chanted, and I was immediately yanked up out of my seat and pulled relentlessly towards a table where I caught a glimpse of sparkly dark blue hair. Magnus Bane.

* * *

**Magnus.**

I met up with Camille before heading to the cafeteria as usual. Since Simon had just had class with her, he was already with us when we entered too. We all took a seat at our usual table where Clary already sat with Tessa. They seemed to be discussing clothes, as Tessa was pointing to a bright red dress in an open catalogue on the table. I sat beside her and glanced at Clary who looked as bored as though she'd just finished an exam and had yet another two hours to wait before she could leave the hall.

"Clary!" Simon chirped as he took his usual space beside her and started chatting about something irrelevant to me. Whatever he was saying, I doubted it was all that intriguing, but the red head looked grateful to have been saved from talking about fashion any longer. Sitting down in the space between Simon and I, Camille analyzed our surroundings (as if they would have changed) before talking in a hushed tone.

"So, Alec and Sebastian-" That's when I stopped listening. The less I heard about Alec and Sebastian, the happier I would be for the rest of the day. They were terribly annoying, impeccably rude and most of all, they were 'popular'. Their kind was what bothered me the most about coming to school every day, so I took little interest in their social affairs. However, Camille had her fun based around the populars and their problems, so she was very overly interested in them, almost on a level where it was creepy but not quite considering they did not know.

I heard Jace Lightwood hollering something about someone hating him and looked over to see him flailing his arms about like an idiot. Sebastian was laying himself on Alec's chest and I looked away immediately. They _screamed _gay couple. Of course though, neither of them could possibly bat for the other team, and if they did then their reputations would be spoiled and broken. I nearly found myself chuckling at the idea.

"He shouldn't be so surprised that people hate him," I heard Clary mutter and smirked over at her. She'd had this vendetta against Jace since he'd made fun of her hair colour last year, which I found rather amusing but she evidently wasn't over yet. It was sad really, because they had a mean nickname for everyone. For her, it was 'carrot-top', they called Simon a 'freak' every time they passed him. Camille got off easy because she was pretty, loud and overall, extremely willing to ruin all of them. She knew secrets that could never be told, and they knew that to some extent. The best they could do for Tessa was 'virgin' because nothing else affected her. Not that 'virgin' did, however she had reacted worse to it than she had to her previous nicknames. I, on the other hand, had an assortment of fantastic nicknames. They had a huge pool of options they could choose to heckle me with every time they passed me in a hall or I got called on in class. 'Glittery fag' was one of my personal favourites.

To be entirely honest, no one could really complain about their nicknames. The populars did that to each other too. However, they hardly stopped there, starting fights for no reason, bashing people's insecurities, trying to dig up dirt on people like only Camille could. They were vile. They were disgusting. That was all I could think as I saw Sebastian approaching, dragging a blushing black haired beauty along with him. The boy stopped in front of our table and every head turned to face him with a look of disdain; he smirked.

"Mind if I have a seat?" he questioned, though it wasn't much of a question since as he said it, he shoved Simon off of his place and sat down in it. Simon mumbled something before he got up and stood as far from Alec as he could without being on a totally different table.

"What do you want?" Tessa spat, closing her catalogue and glaring across the table at our new 'friend'.

"Shut up virgin girl, we're not here for you."

"Sebastian!" Alec scolded and I let my eyes roam over lazily to him. I could hear Sebastian numbly insulting Simon, but I tried to block it out since I really didn't care at all. Staring at the blue eyed boy for a while gave me time to think about how I should deal with this situation. Shifting uncomfortably, Alec was playing with the hem of his tight blue V-neck showing his nervous disposition. I figured I should take some advice from Sebastian and bash the most insecure of people.

"Darling," I could just about make out Sebastian cutting off mid-sentence to listen to me. Maybe he thought he was going to talk to my friends like that and not get the same treatment back, because he looked very shocked that I was speaking to Alec rather than him. "You really shouldn't wear red. It clashes with your eyes."

Alec touched the red scarf around his neck and speedily took it off and shoved it into his bag. Honestly, for a moment, I thought he was going to cry. He looked humiliated and he was staring at Sebastian, as if looking for some sort of guidance, which I couldn't help thinking was pretty cute.

"Put it back on Alec," the pale blond boy said with a nod in Alec's direction. "What would he know about fashion? Have you looked at yourself today Bane?"

"Don't you dare talk to him like that!" Tessa spat, slamming her hand down on the table and standing up, Sebastian following her action with a smirk.

"Ohh, did I finally strike a chord with you Tessie?"

"Sit down." Alec spoke up and surprised everyone, including myself. It appeared as though he had lost his nervous disposition, his mouth was set in a straight line and he was staring right at Tessa, who was suddenly pink in the face. "Seb's a little childish. As long as you don't encourage him, he'll soon get bored," with that, the black haired boy's mouth twitched up into a welcoming smile that was very contagious. Everyone at the table was suddenly smiling up at him, even me, and I saw his gaze wander down and catch mine and we stayed like that for a moment until his cheeks reddened and he turned away too fast. I convinced myself that I had imagined that and moved on, looking over to see Sebastian stalking away from our table with hunched shoulders. He was defeated. A chuckle escaped me, until I saw everybody else openly laughing, and I joined willingly. It was nice to have this little moment after being invaded so rudely by populars. It strengthened our group a little and brightened my spirits, giving me a much more optimistic attitude towards the rest of the day. That was of course, until I heard an annoyingly chipper voice chime in from beside me.

"Mind if I sit?" Alec asked, moving uncertainly towards the empty space where Sebastian once sat. Simon was still standing behind Clary and I wanted to speak up for him and tell Alec to go away, as that was of course, Simon's designated seat at our table. Unfortunately, I was beaten to it.

"Please do," Camille said in a sing-song voice, leaning her elbows on the table and resting her chin on the backs of her hands. She looked like she was plotting, as she often did. The black haired boy complied with a goofy grin and there was silence around the table for a moment. Everyone's eyes were set on Alec, as if awaiting his reasoning for being anywhere near us. Clearly, he could sense everyone's discomfort. He sat up straight and cleared his thought before turning to face Clary with regained composure.

"So, Clary," he started with a smile, "how did you feel about your first dance class yesterday? Enjoy it?"

"I didn't know you were taking dance classes," Simon said defensively. Staring, astonished at Alec, his face dropped and he looked like he'd been betrayed until Clary gripped his hand in hers and nodded reassuringly.

"I wasn't gonna tell you guys until I knew I was gonna go back. Alec only knows because my stupid brother told him. But yeah, it was okay. I think I did alright, a lot better than I thought I would anyway."

"That's good," Alec replied neutrally, and then the awkward silence continued. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Camille, still gazing at our new friend with a deceitful grin plastered onto her face. There was an air of discomfort, especially as Simon cleared his throat but said nothing. I exhaled loudly and glanced lazily over at Alec, who was fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt again.

"So," I spoke up, disliking the awkward atmosphere. "Clary, if Tess and I bring the fabrics over tonight, do you have everything else ready?"

Before she could answer however, Alec perked up and asked "You're all going to Clary's tonight?"

"No," Tessa explained calmly, "Just Magnus and I."

His bottle blue gaze drifted over to me and his cheeks reddened obviously. I almost smirked but had to stop myself as I realized the situation. This surely couldn't be real.

"I guess I'll see you there then..." the boy muttered, directing his statement at me rather than Tessa or Clary. Convincing myself that I had to be wrong, I just shrugged and looked away from him. There was no way in hell Alexander Lightwood could possibly be gay. Especially not for me. Though that was how it appeared, I simply ruled out the possibility and tried my very best not to look at him in case I over analyzed what he was doing again. Camille still sat still, her smirk growing in realization and I figured we had come to the same conclusion. However, she quickly frowned and shook her head; she had ruled out the possibilities too. It was very simply inconceivable.

The bell sounded, breaking me and my friends out of our thoughts as we all stood and re-assembled ourselves with our bags or backpacks. Clary and Simon headed off towards their science class and Tessa waited for me with Camille. I was about to leave with the two of them when a nervous voice spoke up from beside me.

"Magnus...You're in my class right?" Alec stuttered over his words and awaited my answer with pink cheeks. Thinking for a moment, I nodded since we did indeed have English together at that point. He perked up at this. "Wanna walk with me?"

Now I had to contemplate over this. Turning around to look to Tessa and Camille for approval, I saw Tessa nod encouragingly and Camille simply shrugged and turned on her heels, strutting away. My poor little sweetheart Tessa had to scurry after her and I shook my head smiling before turning back to Alec who was watching me expectantly.

"Sure."

Unfortunately, what I didn't consider was that walking with Alec meant walking with Alec's friends. I nearly groaned out loud when I heard them.

"Alexander, dearest!" Sebastian chirped from across the room. He was sprawled out across the table and Jordan stood behind him laughing like an idiot. I rolled my eyes and followed Alec slowly over to them. It was annoying that I felt a compelling need to keep my distance from them. I spaced myself reasonably away from Alec.

"Get off the table right now," he sighed, gently shoving his best friend as he stood up laughing with Jordan. He then proceeded to whisper but I could still hear him quite easily. "You're gonna make me look bad. He'll get the wrong impression of me."

"I have plenty of impressions of you dear," I said without realizing I was talking out loud and quickly looked away as if I was uninterested in the situation. They were all staring at me, I could feel their scrutinizing gazes. Alec cleared his throat and stepped closer to me. His two idiotic friends looked to each other, shared a private grin and then turned on their heels and started strolling away towards the door. Quickly, Alec followed, taking a moment to glance back at me.

"Coming?"


	2. First Times

**Hi guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites. It really means a lot to me!**

**As for everyone who asked if there will be any Seb/Alec in this fic, I think this chapter fully answers that question;)**

**DON'T WORRY GUYS. The main plot is entirely MALEC based. Because it is a MALEC fanfic:')**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Magnus.**

They were impertinent, aggravating, and overall very unpleasant to be around. So more or less everything that I had expected them to be. Sebastian and Jordan were fantastic at living up to their reputations as complete and utter assholes. As we walked down the hall together towards our English class, I kept as close to Alec as physically possible just so that I could be as far from the other two as I could. It wasn't like they scared me or anything. I was in no way intimidated by the two of them, they just really disgusted me and to be seen with them would be social hell; well for me anyway. Alec looked over at me and smiled apologetically. I scoffed at him in response and I could see his smile fall into a frown as I did while he turned his head away again.

Somehow, on our casual stroll, we had caught up with Simon and Clary who were walking quite slowly and discussing something about a poetry reading the previous night. As if sensing the opportunity, Sebastian started to walk directly in front of Jordan as they neared Simon's back. The other boy looked annoyed for a moment before he pushed Sebastian forward, sending him straight into Simon, who stumbled straight onto the floor. His bad fell from its place on his shoulder and all the contents spilled onto the floor. Instantly realizing his friend's scheme, Jordan's irritation faded into laughter that he tried to hold back. He failed.

"Ohhh, sorry Si!" Sebastian chanted, insincerely. Grumbling something under his breath, Simon started to gather his things again, just as Jordan kicked one of his books to the other end of the hall and Sebastian picked up a note book and started flicking through the pages. Clary, who was busy yelling at Jordan, hadn't noticed her brother at all. I could see the fear in Simon's eyes as his best friend's brother read the pages of his book and I felt compelled to come to his aid. I grabbed Sebastian's arm and ripped the note book from his grip.

"Don't."

"Woah, woah, woah Sparkles," he said, gingerly prying my hand off of his arm. "You can walk with us. But I do NOT however, grant you permission to touch me."

"Don't flatter yourself sweetheart, I'd really rather not touch you," I spat, seeing his face turn angry and smirking at the sight. In all honesty, it was one of my hobbies to make the populars mad. It was just so much fun and I could hardly help myself really.

"Magnus," I heard Clary speak up, and she was much calmer now. Confused, I glanced over at Jordan who was leaning against the wall pouting. His cheek was bright red. I chuckled in realization that she had slapped him, proud of my little red head. "Are you going to be okay? I don't really like you walking around with my idiot brother if he's going to treat you like that."

"Oh don't you worry about me sweetheart," I smiled and let my gaze fall on Sebastian who, unfortunately, did not shift and fidget nervously like Alec did when I looked at him. It would have been fun to torture him like that. "I'm sure I can handle it."

Clary nodded and proceeded to her class with Simon who hadn't said a lot since he was pushed over. Sometimes, it was hard to shake the feeling that Simon was genuinely afraid of the popular crew. It had only been recently that he'd stopped retaliating. Usually, had they done or said anything to him, he'd have some witty or sarcastic response to it that made everyone laugh, but as of now he was quiet, unresponsive and really quite an easy target for them. It was almost disappointing.

The rest of the walk to class was quiet, and when we got there I was thankful to be out of their company. I took my usual seat beside Ragnor Fell, very grateful to have someone I could talk to comfortably in this class. We nodded at each other in greeting and made meaningless small talk until the teacher spoke up. I hardly noticed Alec staring past Sebastian at me while I chatted, mainly because I was dismissing it. Ragnor nudged my arm with his elbow when the teacher explained we'd have to pair up for some essay on Shakespeare that I wasn't even remotely interested in. Ragnor was reasonably better at this than I was (though that was mainly because I was too lazy to put in much effort) so I numbly agreed to be his partner.

"Ahem. Mr. Morgenstern and Mr. Lightwood?" the whole class, including me despite my short attention span, turned to look at Sebastian and Alec, who were sat beside each other indicating they were hoping to pair up together. Jordan was sat beside a quiet girl and did not look at all pleased about it. They had clearly exiled him to be together. "I don't think so." The teacher scolded and then started scanning the room, obviously planning on splitting the two of them up since they really didn't work all that well. Sebastian brought out the worst in Alec. "Um...Sebastian, I'd like you to be with Ragnor Fell."

"Why don't you just shoot me in the face now instead?" Sebastian said, rolling his eyes as he got up, swinging his bag over his shoulder. He stalked over to where I was sitting and glared at me until I gave in and got up, moving beside Alec. I assumed I was stuck with him after all. His bright blue eyes shone as he smiled at me when I sat down, and I looked at him with a confused expression. The smile on his face faded and he looked away, at Sebastian more specifically, and I couldn't help but follow his gaze though it didn't seem anyone had noticed.

Sebastian mouthed the words 'talk to him' before turning around and feigning interest in whatever it was Ragnor was talking about, nodding and 'umming' in all the right places. What a fantastic actor he was, and I almost felt bad for Ragnor, as he looked quite impressed with himself for getting Sebastian's attention.

"So...You um, know anything about Shakespeare?"

"I know about as much as you darling, we're in the same class," I smirked as he blushed and started fidgeting uncomfortably. For a popular, he was adorable, with all his blushing and shifting around nervously, this boy would be the death of me.

"Right. Yeah. So...do you know what we're supposed to be doing? I wasn't really listening..I mean, I was! But Sebastian was distracting me, so I didn't really hear..." he stuttered over his words and looked up at the ceiling in thought. God, he looked even cuter when he was thinking. He pursed his lips and his eyes wandered the room. I had to pry my eyes away from him when I noticed I was staring before anyone else did.

"Analyzing a sonnet. Not really sure why it's a two person job, but whatever."

"Really? We could make this really easy then, if we stick with something simple...Like Sonnet 18."

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" I muttered quietly and sighed loudly in exasperation. "Dull as hell."

"W-we don't have to do that one...What one would you prefer?"

I smiled at him lazily and my eyes raked over him for a moment, making him blush again. I wondered if there was something I could do that he could keep calm about at all. "No darling, that one is fine."

**Alec.**

The time I spent with him was like the sweetest form of torture. I spent the whole time getting all red in the face and stumbling over my own words. It was just difficult to be around him without getting nervous; everything he did made my heart beat too fast. I'd never really spoken to Magnus before now, so in the past I hadn't experienced something like this. Overall, it was basically terrifying.

I left the class with Sebastian and Jordan, not being able to stop myself looking back at Magnus as he walked in the opposite direction to us down the hall.

"How'd it go then lover boy?" Jordan mused, poking my cheek. I batted his hand away and smiled lightly which he 'aww'ed at and made me feel slightly embarrassed. They always did stuff like that to me, I sometimes just felt like an injured puppy in their group.

"I don't really know...I think I probably looked really dumb."

"Why?" Sebastian asked around a mouthful of a chocolate bar he'd just taken from Jordan's hand.

"Well...I don't know he kept...Looking at me. It made me nervous."

At this, they both started up a chorus of uncontrollable laughter and I backed away from them with bright red cheeks, I was sure. After a long while, they seemed just about able to compose themselves enough to speak. I sighed.

"Alec, baby, you can't get nervous when a guy LOOKS at you!" Sebastian yelled, staring me down as he said it. And as if to emphasize his point, I couldn't help but look away from him, still with that same stupid blush on my face. I could hear Jordan chuckling when Sebastian let his hand rest on my shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it once I make you into a master flirt."

We made our way to our next class together after that. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I couldn't stop thinking about how Magnus' eyes on me made me feel. It wasn't really the same as when Jordan looked at me for too long; that just made me feel weird. It was a lot more similar to the feeling of Sebastian staring me down. They both made me feel something I never felt before and more than anything it made me uncomfortable, nervous and for some reason, embarrassed. It was something new to me, and I was very determined to find out what it was.

**Magnus.**

After school, I waited outside Clary's class with Tessa, and when she exited the room, she was covered in paint splatters and her hair was tied back in a messy bun, some strands falling loose to frame her face. She looked like a perfect little artist. I smiled when I saw her and Tessa greeted her with a little hug.

"Oh, I'm really sorry guys; we have to get a ride home with my brother's friends..." She sounded very sincere, and she turned to face me. "Is that okay?"

"That's fine dear, which one?"

"Jordan," she replied with a smile before linking arms with me and Tessa and heading for the car park where I knew the populars awaited us.

Sure enough, there they were. Jordan sat behind the wheel in his truck with the window wide open and he was honking the horn as he saw us. Sebastian was leaning against the truck next to Alec who did a cute little wave at me and I nodded back at him. We approached them and Clary got into the passenger's seat, yelling 'shotgun' as she did so. I heard Sebastian curse under his breath as he got in the back, followed by everyone else. Everyone was practically sitting on each other but no one really bothered to complain.

I was praying for a quiet ride home, but obviously, conflict could not be avoided with Sebastian who was quite literally lying in between Alec's legs. Glancing up at the blue eyed boy, I could see how comfortable he was with the whole situation and I shared a knowing glance with Tessa. She was the only one who agreed with me that Sebastian and Alec acted just like a gay couple all the time. It was mildly amusing.

"Where's Jace?"

"He's driving Maia over. She didn't want to sit in the truck, said it would be too crowded," Alec answered, watching Sebastian play with his own phone over his shoulder.

"Oh yeah, you wanna tell your friend Jace to keep as far away from me as physically possible. And that I don't accept his apology," Clary scoffed from the front of the car, looking back at Sebastian and rolled his eyes and promised to deliver to message.

In the truck, I was sat very close to Alec so I figured now would be as good a time as any to test out my theory on his being, quite inconceivably, homosexual. I faked a stretch and as I did so, I gently brushed my hand across his inner thigh. I felt him tense under my touch as I did so but he did not move away or say anything. So with that, it was time to have some harmless fun. I did the exact same thing again, but this time there was no pretend stretching and I looked him straight in the eye as I did it. His cheeks flared up, but once again, he said nothing. Sebastian was far too busy talking about his sex life with Tessa and calling her names to notice anything going on. Nevertheless, I decided that I had my proof when I felt Alec's slightly shaky hand on mine and, exceeding my expectations greatly, he guided my hand further up his leg. Quickly concluding that I wouldn't be going nay further than that in the back of his friend's truck in front of everyone, I gently pulled my hand back, looked up to meet his icy blue gaze and winked at him. That was it. All I needed. He was _**definitely**_ gay.

* * *

The Morgenstern's house was clean, but well filled with random ornaments everywhere and Clary's paintings were hung literally everywhere. Sebastian had an entire cabinet filled with sports trophies near the front door, like the show off he was. To avoid her brother's gang at all costs, Clary quickly grabbed hold of both me and Tessa and couriered us up the stairs into her bedroom, which was even more filled with paintings and drawings than anywhere else in the house. The walls weren't even visible anymore. I couldn't help but stop and stare at the new pictures she'd taped up since the last time I was here. One of them, I noticed with a proud smirk, was of Simon and I, very easily distinguishable since Clary was an amazing artist. Beside that, was an obvious and very well detailed drawing of Sebastian and Alec. The only colour on the paper was Alec's bright blue eyes; the rest was drawn in black pencil. His eyes were bright and dazzling, and just as I was in real life, I was captivated by just the look of them.

"Like them?" I heard Clary ask. I glanced over to see her sitting on her bed beside Tessa who was opening all kinds of different magazines and catalogues of clothing. Clary was pulling an assortment of coloured fabrics from my bag.

"They're beautiful, as usual."

We settled down and got to designing clothes for our textiles class we had together. Tessa even started to stitch something together. Even from all the way upstairs, we could still hear Sebastian and the populars yelling like a bunch of idiots in the living room. Clary's parents were on their honeymoon still, so they could really do whatever the hell they wanted. Clary of course, being Clary, just wanted to do her school work with her friends. But Sebastian, being Sebastian, wanted to be a reckless idiot with all of his idiot friends who were idiots. Soon enough though, we could no longer hear them and it took a good hour for anyone to question it, not just because we were all too busy working, but because it was awfully peaceful and it seemed sinful to interrupt.

"Where'd they go?" Tessa questioned, uninterested as she came to the last few stitches in a nice half of a shirt she was making. Clary shrugged and rolled off of the bed and onto her feet to go to the desk where she'd put her phone. Probably checking for a text from Sebastian.

"Nothing from my brother..." she said, her eyes flickering over her phone's bright screen, "but I have a text from Camille. She says one of the minors is having a party and we all need to be there..apparently her and Simon already are." The 'minors' were the little group of people who tried far too hard to be popular but they just weren't accepted by Sebastian's little gang, no matter what they did. I sighed, realizing that yes, we would have to attend this party because if we didn't, Simon would be alone with Camille and not only that, she wouldn't talk to us for weeks. Clary was already searching her wardrobe for dresses for Tessa and herself. "Magnus, I can get you something of Sebastian's-"

"I'd rather die."

I tried my best to protest to going by arguing that I had absolutely nothing to wear. Unfortunately, we ended up just stopping off at my house so I could get changed and going to the minor's party anyway.

**Alec.**

The music was blaring and I could barely even hear myself think when Sebastian grabbed my wrist and pulled my outside into the back yard of Aline Penhallow's house, where the party was being held. He shut the doors behind them, so the music sounded very drowned out now. There were only two other people out here, a guy and a girl who I had never seen before, making out in the corner, but Sebastian and I tried our best to ignore them. He handed me a drink that looked like water but it was cloudy and I sighed as I took it from him and reluctantly took a sip. It tasted vaguely like lemonade, but mostly like vodka and I thought of how disappointed my father would be as I drank all of it in one go. He was a strong Christian and he didn't believe in the consumption of alcohol at all. Sebastian however, looked extremely proud of me as he smirked and sipped his own drink slowly.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about the bet?" he mused, placing his drink down on the table that was behind him.

"Right, yeah," I nodded, contemplating over how to phrase my protests. "It's just...I've never even kissed anyone before, and you know that Sebastian. I don't think I want my first kiss to be because of some dumb bet...I guess I uh...I want it to be special."

"God, you're such a woman sometimes Alec," he said in a husky voice and chuckled, making me blush, slightly embarrassed. Yes, it sounded mushy and pathetic, but I really did want to remember my first kiss as being something very special. I had thought about it a lot today, and because of the way Magnus made me feel just by looking at me, I did consider that a first kiss with him could be something very special indeed. But not under these circumstances. "You really don't want your first kiss to be for a bet?" I nodded slowly, looking down at my feet. Suddenly, I felt his cold fingers on my chin lifting my head back up so I was staring him in the eyes. As he started to lean forward, I was frozen. I couldn't move or protest at all when his lips touched mine, though even if I could I thought that maybe I wouldn't. Sebastian moved his lips against mine in an almost guiding way and I felt myself following him automatically, without my own consent even, I was kissing him back. It just sort of happened. His hand fell down to my hips and he wrapped his arms around my waist pulling my body against his. Automatically, once again, I wrapped my arms around his neck and tilted my head to the side to allow him more of me. Quite abruptly after his tongue entered my mouth, I yanked myself away from him, nearly falling from how hard I'd pulled back, but I composed myself.

"There. Now if you kiss him, it won't be your first." With that, he picked up his drink and went back inside, leaving me outside, standing there alone and cold and very confused. The couple who had been kissing in the corner before was still there, but they weren't kissing anymore and they were actually staring at me. All too quickly, I finally recognized one of the two faces as one of Magnus' friends, the worse one it could possibly be; Camille Belcourt. She had seen everything and she would ruin Sebastian and me.

"Well," she giggled, strutting away from the boy in the corner who looked very intoxicated but I still couldn't make out who it was. "That was something, wasn't it Alec?"

"Please," I muttered pathetically and frowned down at her. It was very odd to feel so intimidated by a woman half my size. "Don't tell anyone. I'll do anything if you keep that a secret. And tell him to as well..."

"Sweetheart, you don't need to worry about him, he won't remember anything by tomorrow morning. As for me...Anything you say?"

I sighed. "Anything."

**Magnus.**

By the time we got to the party, everyone there was either drunk or passed out. We were only there for about half an hour when I got so tired of drunken people grinding against me that I had to go and get some fresh air. I grabbed my fifth drink of the night and headed for the door. When I went out into the back yard, the last thing I was expecting to find was my little blue eyed boy, sitting on a garden table staring off into the night. He looked very peaceful and I instantly wanted to ruin that.

"Alexander," I sang and he turned his head to look at me, his cheeks instantaneously turning bright pink.

"Magnus, I didn't think you'd be here."

"Eh, minor parties aren't usually my thing. But given that Camille asked us to come, we sort of had to." I saw him frown when I mentioned Camille and he even glanced away from me to carry on watching stars. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little confused, that's all."

"Oh yeah? About what?" I sat on the table beside him and rested my head on his shoulder, a rather confident move on my part. I'd had quite a fair amount to drink though, so my confidence was getting a nice boost from the alcohol in my body. He tensed for a moment, but soon relaxed himself again. He was thinking again, pursing his lips and looking around. Contemplating.

"Promise you won't laugh?" I promised. It took a while for him to speak again. "I kissed someone for the first time tonight. I don't really know what to think about it."

"Really?" I wasn't really surprised he'd never had his first kiss until tonight. The boy wore a fucking chastity ring, bless his heart. "Was she hot?"

"It wasn't a she," he replied instantly, and he clearly hadn't thought about it before he spoke because straight away he cupped his mouth with his hand, looking shocked with himself. Well, definitely gay. I only smiled and gently pulled his hand away, hugging his arm afterwards.

"That's okay. Well, what do you think? Did you like it?"

"I...think so?"

"Good. Now you can kiss all the boys you want!" He laughed quietly and shifted nervously, which I still found adorable. Again, he looked like he was fighting with himself over whether or not he should say something. "What?" I asked, sensing his contemplation. "What is it?"

"I...I want to kiss you."


	3. Toying with Power

**I want to start by saying I'm really sorry about how long this has taken:( I'm sort of bad with time and I have the same excuse as everyone else with school and all. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up a lot quicker than this one:')**

**So, I don't really know how good I feel about this chapter but I couldn't keep you guys waiting any longer. So sorry if it's not the best thing, the next chapter, I promise will be better and probably longer too since I think this one is pretty short. **

**Anyway, enough rambling, hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews so far, I love hearing what you guys think!**

* * *

**Alec.**

"You want to kiss me, huh?"

He sounded so calm and that made me substantially more nervous than I was before, when I was still quite hugely nervous. It had been such a terrifying move to make, saying I wanted to kiss him, but I reasoned with myself until I built up the nerves to do so. Not only did I want Sebastian to win his bet with Jordan (just because he was my best friend and it was a nice thing to do for him, simple as that) but also, I genuinely did want to kiss Magnus Bane. That was an extremely odd thought. I wondered for a moment if it was just that the party had gone to my head, or if it was the alcohol talking, but quickly came to the conclusion that I had hardly been here long enough and I'd had barely anything to drink. So the fact of the matter was, I just wanted to kiss this guy who was sat beside me. It made sense I supposed, he was beautiful. I didn't even think he was hot like I had decided I did with Sebastian. Magnus Bane was quite genuinely beautiful.

"Yeah. I uh...I wanna kiss you."

"Well, in that case," Magnus got up of off the table we were both sat on and stood in front of me, in between my legs. He rested his forehead against mine and I could feel his breath on my lips. It was painfully difficult to not close the space between us straight away when he was teasing me like this, but I managed to compose myself enough; probably because I was so scared to do it anyway. Carefully and almost cautiously, he started to place gentle kisses on my cheek leading down to my neck. My eyes were fluttering and I could feel how red in the face I was. The air suddenly became thick and my breathing quickened significantly. I could feel his hand in my hair. It was all a blur of movement when his lips touched mine so quickly and so briefly, and I wondered why he'd stopped himself so fast. When I brought myself back to reality enough to examine my surroundings, I was shocked to realise I was alone. There was no one. For a second, I paused to think about whether I had imagined the whole things, but I could still feel the ghost his lips on mine (as quick as the contact was, it was still there). It had definitely happened. It was real. I had kissed Magnus Bane. Or he had kissed me rather, and then ran off, which I assumed was a rather bad sign, but I'd have to question Sebastian about that.

**Magnus.**

His taste stayed on my lips as I furiously shoved my way through the crowd towards the door. Something in me clicked when I felt his lips on mine, and I realised exactly what I was doing and decided I was completely against it. I was more or less taking advantage of him, though he didn't seem that drunk, I could not fathom him asking me to kiss him when he was one hundred percent sober. Finally, I got to the front door, but, as the luck was mine, Sebastian and Jordan just so happened to be standing directly in front of it. Maia was also with them, but I still considered her a minor; she was only there to be Jordan's trophy. She was clinging on to his arm and scowling at me, as was he, but Sebastian simply stared. My breathing was heavy and I was still blushing about the earlier situation with Alec but I was desperately trying to take my mind off of the whole thing as Sebastian took a step towards me.

"Where are you going, pretty boy?" I smirked at the nickname, having heard him call Alec the same thing on numerous occasions. Sebastian's intoxication was clear on his breath.

"That doesn't concern you," I replied calmly and went to walk past him but was stopped by his outstretched arm. I groaned in response. "What do you want you uneducated swine!?" Losing my patience with this boy was quite a terrible and almost unavoidable habit of mine, as it goes. Coldly, he glared at me and shoved me lightly backwards.

"When I ask you a question, you answer it. Where are you going?"

"Home, if you must know."

"Why?"

"It's a school night. Some of us give a shit. Besides, there's nothing here I'm interested in," I lied, feeling Alec's touch on my mouth as I spoke. Sebastian regarded me with a confused expression for a moment, but this time he allowed me to pass and I walked out the front door. I slammed it behind me, trying to make a point though I didn't really know how that would help in any way. My thoughts were going crazy in my head and it was difficult to be sarcastic with Sebastian even, something that usually came naturally to me. All I could think about was how desperately I wanted to go back and kiss him again; REALLY kiss him. I craved his lips on mine and missed the way his hair felt, so soft and perfect. And God those eyes. So far in my life, Alec had been nothing but another popular that I wanted to avoid at all costs. Never before had I had the chance to observe his true beauty up close, and maybe if I had gotten this opportunity earlier, I would have started to like him sooner. It was hard not too really, once you had really looked at him. He had such a captivating look about him; his beauty was admirable and different. It was a definite now that I definitely liked Alec. How much so, I hadn't yet decided. But I definitely liked him.

It was raining out, and my hair was falling flat, down onto my forehead, some of it covering my eyes as I made the short trek home. I figured I probably should have told someone I was going, but all I could think about when I was making my get away dash was leaving before Alec came looking for me. It was quite immature really, running and hiding from him like that just because we had kissed, but I was a little concerned about how drunk he was. I had no idea how much he alcohol he'd had that night, and it's not fair to just take advantage of him like that. In my own mind, I had made the right decision. However, as I walked through the door of my small one bedroom apartment, I realised I'd need to come up with a good reason for having run off. Something that wouldn't sound so pathetic and lame.

I fell lazily onto the couch and my cat instantly joined me by my side. Thinking about it, I guessed the best and most believable reason for me taking off like that would be I was trying to tease him. Sounded enough like me. So that would be my excuse, simply that I wanted him to crave me, to miss me and to beg me for more. I nearly laughed at myself, because I was getting all hot on the idea of him wanting me. He probably didn't, I was blaming tonight's events on the heavy amount of alcohol I assumed both of us had consumed. I knew for a fact it was going to my head, and guessed for an assumption that it was going to his too. Why else would someone like him have even been vaguely interested in me? He had his people and I had mine and we stayed as far away from each other as possible. To be involved with one of them was nothing but an inconvenience to us, and that probably worked vise versa too.

When my phone buzzed, I fished it out of my pocket, almost certain it was Clary. So when I saw Alec's name on the screen, my heart skipped a bit and I nearly threw my phone away. I vaguely remembered exchanging numbers with him in English so we could discuss our project together, but I was definitely not expecting to hear anything from him tonight. I wasn't feeling very up to talking to him at the moment, but I opened the text regardless.

_'Goodnight Magnus. X'_

I shook my head, smiling like an idiot at the screen before locking my phone and heading off to my room to get some sleep.

**Alec.**

The next day at lunch, I could still feel my head pounding. I was resting my head on Sebastian's shoulder, looking miserable because I felt so disgustingly ill. After Magnus had left the party, I'd had so much more to drink I didn't even remember half of what had happened, and once again began questioning whether or not the little scene between me and him had even happened. It was all so fast and confusing and right now I could very barely even remember it. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to expel the head ache that was only getting worse the more I thought about last night's craziness. I felt Sebastian's hand ruffle my hair lightly, a comforting gesture. It was oblivious to me how he was so composed when he had surely had more to drink than even I had. He seemed absolutely fine.

I was at least ninety percent certain Sebastian and I had kissed for real last night. That part, my brain seem convinced was very real, and the knowing looks Camille Belcourt kept on giving me from her table were a pretty good sign that I was right. She and another boy, who I could not put a name to the face of, still, had seen the whole thing, which was somewhat terrifying. Camille held mine and Sebastian's reputations in her hands and she could let go at any moment if I did not comply with her wishes. More thoughts to add to my headache. I groaned out loud and Sebastian put his arm around me and 'shushed'. Jordan's laughter angered me slightly, but only as much as I'd ever been angered before which wasn't a lot at all.

"I am getting absolutely nowhere with her!" Jace hollered, making me cringe and rub my temple to ease the pain.

"Clary?" Jordan asked lamely.

"Yes, Clary. Moron."

"I'm not surprised. She cannot stand to even be in your presence," Sebastian said without looking up from his phone or having his expression waver even slightly. Jace glared at him from across the table but he didn't even seem to notice. I took his water bottle out of his bag where it was poking out and drank some. There was not much left and he hadn't had any, which made me feel sort of awful but he'd more or less assigned it to me because I was sick. "Alexander, go and talk to Magnus. Arrange for him to go over to your house tonight, for your assignment."

I complied without a word. Getting up as slowly as I could as not to increase the pain in my head or the dizziness of my vision, I paced over to Magnus' table. All of them looked up at me in unison and I could feel the burning hatred in their eyes, boring into my skin and making me feel a lot more self-conscious than was necessary. Suddenly, Simon, who I'd never really paid much attention to before, stood up and signaled towards his seat with an open palm.

"A seat for you, your highness?" he said in a mocking tone, which his friends all laughed at, including Magnus. I just stared at him blankly, wondering if I looked as offended as I felt before I sat down muttering an insincere 'thanks'. I also began to wonder if I looked as sick as I felt. I had barely even glanced at myself in the mirror this morning, scared of how horrifying what stared back at me would actually be. I figured though, that if I really looked that terrible or lifeless, Sebastian would have pointed it out by now.

"So," Magnus started, a smirk playing on his lips. "About that kiss.." And he paused right there. My throat tightened. Was it real then? Why would he bring that up in front of all of his friends? Was he trying to make a fool of me? "The one you put at the end of your text. Really adorable."

I nearly released my sigh of relief before I saw the way he was looking at me. He was smirking and had his eyebrows raised, rather suggestively meaning that was not what he was talking about. It was then that I noticed this was just a game for him and felt the nervousness rise up in me.

"Uh, yeah." I said, willing myself not to blush but obviously, as I did at everything Magnus said, I just had to let my face get all rosy red. Something Sebastian would call adorable then Jordan, Maia and Jace would laugh and I'd blush a little more and they'd laugh a little harder. But here, they all just stared at me. Pairs of judging eyes were all over the place, increasing my headache, so I did have to try to ignore them. "Anyway, about the English assignment. I was thinking you could come over to my place tonight and we'll start working on it. If that's okay with you obviously?" I wondered if I sounded too hopeful or too desperate, but thought that was immature so stopped doing it. Sort of.

"Magnus can't go to your house." The voice was blatantly Camille's and I was surprised to see I wasn't the only one looking confused when I turned to face her.

"Well, why not?"

"He's gay," she said, as if it was supposed to be obvious, then sighed. "You live in the Christian neighbourhood dear. It's weird for him to go there."

"Oh, that's actually a good point," Magnus nodded in thought, agreeing with Camille and looking back at me with a nearly apoplectic look, but it was so barely there, that I was almost offended. Being here was difficult. It was like they were all laughing at me, but not in the way my friends would. They were doing it in a much more sinister, horrible way. Even Magnus, and for some reason that sort of hurt. Not that he had any obligation to be nice to me, he barely even knew me anyway. It just hurt.

"Alright well...Okay, can I...go to yours? I just really wanna make a start on this and I don't want to put it off-"

"Of course darling," Magnus interrupted, changing his smirk to a comforting smile. I thought that maybe he had noticed the hurt on my face and decided to change his tone a little, because obviously the others weren't planning on it anytime soon. They didn't care and fair enough to them. All they saw when they looked at me was another popular. Another bitchy boy who just wants to humiliate everyone who he sees as inferior to him. So why was I expecting Magnus to be so different to them anyway? Well, whatever the reasoning behind thinking that way about him, I was right. He was different. He cared, at least a little about how comfortable I felt in his and his friends' company. "I'll see you tonight."

I nodded, almost happily and got up to return to my table when Camille caught my wrist.

"A word please Alec?" she said in an almost sing-song voice, and I could feel the negative direction this was going in. As much as I wanted to say no, I just nodded and let her lead me away from the crowds of people into an isolated corner of the room where she stared at me for a while. It was pretty creepy, but I wasn't going to stop or interrupt her. She had stared for long enough that it became disturbing when she finally let out a little giggle before speaking. I gulped back my fear.

"Clary needs a model for her art project. I want you to volunteer for her," she said with a polite smile. So, as it turned out, I had gotten all worked up for nothing. Though I wasn't exactly comfortable putting myself forward as a model, it wasn't the end of the world. Then the thought crossed my mind that perhaps Camille was simply testing out her power over me, as of course, she was not asking me to do this but rather telling me to. Perhaps she was just beginning to toy with the knowledge that I was under her complete control. Anything she wanted me to do I would do and anything she wanted me to say I would say. In all honesty, I was much more concerned for Sebastian's sake than I was my own.

I was left feeling sicker than I had before and very confused as we walked back over to the table.

"Anyway," Camille stated, taking her seat and pushing a pale blond curl behind her ear. "Clary, how's your search for a male model going?"

"Badly." The redhead exhaled loudly. She was resting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands and there were clear signs of fatigue about her face, though I assumed she did not look half as bad as I probably did. I suddenly became self-conscious again when I felt Magnus's eyes on me. Not even knowing what I looked like, I didn't want him seeing me like this.

"I'll do it. If you want me too, that is." I blurted out after a long glare from Camille, finally realizing it was blatantly my turn to speak. My voice sounded shaky, and clearly it wasn't as inconspicuous as I had hoped as I heard the humiliating muffled laughter of the group. Instinctively, I looked down and started to fidget in my seat. I heard Clary giggle before she replied.

"That'd be great Alec. Thank you. Hey, how about this, you and Magnus should both come over to my place tonight! That way, we can start on your English assignment and my art project all together!"

"Sounds good to me, as long as you keep that vile brother of yours at a distance," Magnus said pointedly, but he was not looking at Clary. Instead, he was staring straight at me, as if Sebastian was my responsibility. I couldn't blame him. Sebastian was difficult, and he didn't very often listen to his little sister anyway. Realistically, I was probably the only one capable of keeping him under control.

The plan was settled. We would be heading back to the Morgenstern's house that night to make a start on both projects. I was responsible for giving Clary a good model, getting Magnus to like me and keeping Sebastian from being too nasty and vicious. To sum it all up, it was going to be a very difficult and unfortunate day to have a hangover.

**Magnus.**

His eyes were not as blue today. They were a dull grey, like they had lost their life and spark of electric blue. It was a shame.


	4. Torn

**Hey Malec fans :)**

**So, I know I promised this chapter would be longer than the last, but I wanted to get this one done quickly, so it may be short-ish. The next one will definitely be a long one though:D **

**There is a little from Sebastian's POV in this chapter too, as some people were requesting that! There will definitely be more from this point on!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Alec.**

When we left school, Jordan was waiting for us by his truck. He always gave Clary and Sebastian a ride home, but he now had two extra passengers and he wasn't all that pleased about it.

"Jace is supposed to be coming to my place tonight. You honestly want me to let Magnus Bane take his spot in my car?"

"No, I honestly don't, but Alec and my sister are quite intent on it," Sebastian said, shooting a glare at me. Flashing an arrogant smile at him in response, I got into the passenger seat of the truck yelling shotgun. I heard Sebastian grunt as he got into the back with Magnus beside him who looked rather unimpressed with the situation. With speed that was probably a little illegal, Jordan drove away from the Hell we'd been trapped in for hours and towards the Morgenstern's house. We all knew the way like the backs of our hands.

"Where do you live, Bane?" Jordan questioned an underlying tinge of disgust in his tone, like he found it tragic to even be talking to Magnus. "I guess I'll have to take you home afterwards."

"I'll walk," Magnus stated without looking away from the window. "But thanks."

"You're not staying anyway Jordan," Sebastian said pointedly and received a quick glare from the driver before he turned his attention back to the road. "But Alec, you may as well stay the night." I nodded, pulling out my phone to text my dad, ensuring I'd be allowed. Just as I was about to block out the conversation with my headphones, Sebastian suddenly made a suggestion that caught my interest. "Bane, you can stay too. If necessary." At this, Jordan instantly reacted; to say the least, he reacted quite badly. Scoffing loudly, Jordan hit the brakes and pulled over in a place that I thought it was probably a little bit illegal to pull over in. The driver of the car behind us confirmed my thoughts as he honked loudly, skidding past us by mere centimeters.

"Jesus Christ, Jordan, what are you doing!?" I exclaimed, as the boy leaned over to stare in disbelief at Sebastian, who, as usual, looked very calm and complacent.

"Did I hear you right?"

"What's the matter? Scared he'll catch gay?" Magnus replied to Jordan's question, though it was not directed at him. I heard Clary stifle a laugh at this and I couldn't help but smile myself. Sebastian simply rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Drive moron. He can stay for Clary, not me."

Grunting something incoherent (though it was something that sounded vaguely similar to grass doll), Jordan turned around and continued driving, his brow furrowed in disapproval.

* * *

The Morgenstern's house was just as grand as ever, and Sebastian's trophy cabinet of arrogance and self-obsessiveness still stood tall and proud by the front door. A red headed woman poked her head around the kitchen door and beamed with a friendly smile when she saw the lot of us, all kicking off our shoes and placing them by the door.

"Welcome home darlings," she said, going and giving Clary and Sebastian a quick kiss on the cheek each. "And welcome back Alexander, Magnus." She was a loving and approachable woman. What I thought was a very stereotypical mother, but a lovely one nonetheless.

"Hi mom, is it okay if we use the living room? Alec's modelling for me," Clary asked, receiving everyone's coats and hanging them up as her mother nodded at her question and scurried off back into the kitchen. Jocelyn was covered in paint, which signaled she wasn't actually cooking anything. Artistic talent seemed to run in the family but it must have completely skipped Sebastian. Never in all my years of being his best friend had I seen him draw, paint or sculpt anything and I knew from countless nights of drunk karaoke that he had the singing voice of an ill giraffe. Sport was much more his field, which was ironic since Clary had always been about as useful on a basketball court as a chicken with no limbs.

The four of us headed into the living room and Sebastian instantly sat himself on the couch. Loudly and without much caution at all, Clary clambered through a closet, throwing out a ton of art supplies, eventually emerging with an expensive looking, black camera. Magnus drew the silk white curtains and positioned me in front of them. The red head nodded in approval at him as she fiddled with the camera until it switched on. While I was busy staring at Magnus as he crossed the room and leant forward on the couch just behind Sebastian, Clary snapped a shot of me and giggled, saying something about my dazed look being perfect for her. I shook my head and smiled nervously at her, feeling the watchful eyes of Sebastian and Magnus on me.

"Brighten up Alec, are you not feeling any better yet?"

"My head still hurts a little..."

"Get him some water Seb," Clary requested, pulling the camera strap over her head so it rested heavily on her neck. Sebastian complied, and after a few more photos and a whole glass of water, I did feel marginally better than I had. The relentless pounding in my head had begun to subside and I could feel the tension in my bones easing up a little more each minute. Clary was barking orders at me on how I should stand, how I should look, which was a little hard on my hung over state but it wasn't such a big deal.

"Alright, just a few more. For this one, I want you to look like you're torn."

"Torn?" I said the first thing I'd said the whole time.

"Yeah, torn. Like..." Clary searched her mind for an example and perked up when she evidently had found one. "Like as if there were two people you were really into, but you couldn't choose between them. Something along those lines yaknow-" Clary was still talking, but as soon as I averted my gaze to where Sebastian sat and Magnus stood behind him, her voice drowned out. It was like she was shouting at me through thin walks as I gazed at the two of them, considering what she had said. It was then that I realized I did not have to pretend for this particular emotion.

Sebastian stared at me with longing black eyes, deep with all kinds of emotions I couldn't understand. Magnus's cat eyes were raking lazily over my body but for once I was not shifting under his gaze or feeling self-conscious, as I felt like I was in an entirely different world than they were. These two guys, my best friend and Magnus Bane, both watch me with intensity that was readable. I wished I knew what they were thinking. I prayed for a way to know if they thought of me what I thought of them, or if not, then what they really did feel about me. The longer I looked at Magnus, the more lost I became in how perfect I thought he was, both inside and out. I remembered lying in bed last night, intoxicated and confused just thinking about him and how wonderful he was. How amazing it felt to have his lips on mine, even if it was just for a moment. But then, my gaze fell on Sebastian and my thoughts exploded, going on a riot of indistinguishable feelings. Part of me knew how vicious and nasty he could get, but the more dominant part of my head was just reminding me of all the loving things he had ever done for me. Whenever I was sick, he was always there, trying to nurse me back to health and getting all frustrated with himself when I stayed ill for weeks. Whenever I was upset, he was my shoulder to cry on and whenever I was happy, he seemed to always be the reason. That was just until recently, when simply thinking about Magnus Bane brought a goofy smile to my face. They were both so perfect, so intriguing, so-

The snapping sound the camera made as Clary took a shot brought me out of my reverie to stare at her.

"That was great Alec!" She exclaimed, running over to the computer to hook up the camera and print out her pictures. For a brief moment, I watched her, dazed and confused until I realized she had caught my real expression while I stared at Sebastian and Magnus, trying to decide which one of them I was drawn to. I couldn't help but blush. I was truly torn.

**Magnus.**

Watching Alec in his photo-shoot was a treat. He was so adorable and I could honestly barely take my eyes off of him. I didn't know how much time had passed when Clary was finally finished and Alec was looking around, a cute little blush on his cheeks.

Suddenly, I became once again aware of Sebastian's presence and glanced down at him. He too was staring at Alec; however his expression was completely unreadable. He just looked as calm as ever, which persisted to irritate me.

"I know I'm stunningly attractive, but please avoid gawking at me like that Bane," Sebastian stated, without so much as a glance in my direction.

"Sebastian," Alec warned, a harshness in his tone that shocked me slightly. The pale blond boy sitting in front of me even wavered his expression at Alec's sudden rashness before returning to his usual state of uninterested. I shrugged it off and walked to Clary's side to examine the pictures she was selecting to print. All of the ones she had chosen were perfect, and I could only nod when she asked for my judgment. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alec collapse onto the couch next to Sebastian and start talking to him about something nonsensical that Jordan had said. All the while Alec spoke, Sebastian was staring at me, and I could feel the coldness in his gaze boring into my skin. Discreetly, but enough so that I could tell, Sebastian shuffled to be closer to Alec. He was acting in a manner that seemed almost possessive. For a moment, I thought maybe I was overreacting or reading too deep into things, but I couldn't just dismiss his odd behavior.

Everyone's attention averted to the door as a loud slam echoed through the hall. In stomped a tall man with hair a similar colour to Sebastian's and dark eyes just like him. Clearly his father, though he seemed to look nothing like Clary. I had always labelled the Morgenstern's as a very typical, high class family, but it was only then that I realized I had never actually met Clary's father. I knew he was absent a lot because of his work, but I'd never put much thought into what he would be like when he was home. Judging by the look the man gave Alec, he had never met him either.

"Clean this shit up Clary," he said, a sternness in his voice that made me go cold. Instantly, Clary complied, picking up her art supplies from where they were littered all over the floor and placing them orderly back into the closet she'd found them in. As she did so, the man's gaze fell on Alec and scrunched up in disapproval. I was unsure, but I thought I saw Sebastian tense.

"I've seen this boy. Clary. You paint him a lot, don't you?"

"This is Alec, Dad. Mom talks about him sometimes." Sebastian said, relieving Clary of having to answer, which she seemed quite grateful for.

"Oh it is?" He replied, moving swiftly from the door to stand behind Sebastian, the space I once occupied. He ruffled the pale blond's hair, but Sebastian moved away from his touch, an angered frown spreading on his usually expressionless face. "Whose boyfriend is it then Seb, yours or Clary's?"

"Neither, Dad. He's Sebastian's friend, and this is Magnus Bane," Clary said, pushing the closet door shut and pulling a loose strand of red hair behind her ear nervously. "He's one of my friends. They're both staying tonight, if that's okay."

"Hm. Sure. That'll be nice. But only!" He stopped, slapping Sebastian quite gently on the back of the head. The gesture would not have meant much if Sebastian had not flinched at tensed as much as he did. It was instantly alarming. "If you go and help your mother with dinner Sebastian. Get off your ass and do something for once."

For some ridiculous reason, I felt compelled to get Sebastian out of this situation. Even though he'd been nothing but horrible to me since the day I had met the guy, he needed help and I was willing to provide it.

"I would be happy to help," I said, and the way Clary's father looked at me froze me in place.

"...Really?" He seemed to consider this for a moment. "Good idea. Give my wife a break and the two of you can prepare the food for tonight. Maybe you can guide this idiot through making a simple dish for once." And with that, he stalked off out of the living room and to the kitchen, where he later emerged with Jocelynn and went off upstairs. I knew what Sebastian was going to say before he piped up once again.

"Thanks a lot, moron."

"He was only trying to help Sebastian, don't-"

"Clary, I suggest you shut up." Sebastian made his way to the kitchen in a childish strop. I shrugged and followed him in.

The only conversation I had with the pale blond for a long while was instructing him in our cooking. Once all the difficult stuff was over and done with, things were uncomfortably quiet for a moment.

"He likes you, you know."

"What?"

"Alec. He likes you. I can tell. He gets all nervous whenever you're around. I would have thought you'd have noticed." The topic did catch my slightly off guard, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot at the thought of Alec liking me. Surely if Sebastian, his best friend, thought so, it must be true. It wasn't like I hadn't figured it out, but having this confirmation was surprisingly pleasant.

"Oh, I've noticed. I've just been calmly ignoring it because I'm still a very strong believer in SebAlec."

"What the Hell are you talking about Bane?"

I simply chuckled in response and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Anyway, I think you should give him a chance. Alec's a good guy."

"I know. I'll think about it."

Silence lingered between us once together until finally, dinner was ready to be served.

**Alec.**

As I lie in bed that night, Sebastian beside me, the rise and fall of his chest a comfort, a million and one thousand thoughts were screaming in my head. First of all, about how strange the vibe had been upon the entrance of Sebastian and Clary's father. He looked a lot like Sebastian, but he seemed to behave in a very different manner. I couldn't quite place why, but I was quite glad he wasn't around very often. His presence seemed to make even his own children uncomfortable.

Secondly, I couldn't stop thinking about Magnus. I thought he'd been really brave that day, putting himself forward when Valentine (I'd learned Clary's fathers name from her while we'd been alone earlier) was upsetting Sebastian. It was such a selfless thing to do, especially considering Magnus didn't even like my best friend that much, and if anyone, it should have been me who offered to help. Again, I couldn't place why, but Valentine scared me a little. I wasn't courageous enough, and it was a good thing Magnus had been there to volunteer in my place, otherwise I assumed Sebastian probably would have spiked up an argument with his father and it all would have ended in tears on either or both sides. That was how most disputes with Sebastian and his family ended anyway, as far as I was aware. Finally, my only other significant thought (though this one wasn't so much of a burden as the others) was about how fabulous Magnus and Sebastian's cooking was. I pondered over which one of them worked the most. Either way, the food was delicious.

Sebastian's breathing was light and he slept with his back to me. Feeling quite parched, I cautiously crept out of the bedroom and started for the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The cold air hit my bare chest, but it was welcoming, as my best friend kept his room at ridiculous temperatures. It was like a sauna in there. As I tiptoed down the stairs, I could hear Clary's faint giggles and Magnus's hushed voice. They were clearly still in the living room together, and I would have to walk through there to get to the kitchen. I decided it was too late to go back now just because of my anxiety at Magnus seeing me in nothing but slacks, and I was also pretty desperate for a drink.

When I entered the living room, the pair looking up at me from where they were cuddling on the couch. The lamp beside the coffee table just barely illuminated the room, but Magnus's eyes seemed to faintly glow in the dark. I was suddenly grateful for the dim lighting in the room as I felt my face getting hotter.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Clary asked, leaning on Magnus's chest. A tinge of jealousy rushed through me, but I simply ignored it. It was pathetic.

"No, no, I just need some water. Sebastian's room is crazy hot."

"Why don't you come and chill out with us for a while then?"

"Hm...Alright, why not?" I smiled as I sat down on the couch, joining them in their late night chat about nothing in particular and everything that didn't matter.

As the night fell into day, I had forgotten all about my thirst, and slipped into sleep, resting my head on Magnus Bane's shoulder.

**Sebastian.**

When he didn't come back in an hour, I assumed he was with Magnus. If winning this bet meant losing my Alec to Magnus Bane, I didn't believe I was all that up for it anymore.


	5. Falling Behind

**Hey guys! So, I'm back at school tomorrow unfortunately, which probably means I won't be updating as frequently :( **

**However, we're getting to the exciting stuff in this chapter;) **

**I really appreciate all the reviews, like REALLY appreciate them. I read every single one and they're so encouraging. My favourite thing is when people leave suggestions for the story in their review, because it really helps me bring the plot along and I love including your ideas or just hearing what you think will happen in general! Also, a HUGE thanks to everyone who has followed and favourited! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Alec.**

Heavy boots thudding loudly against the wooden floors rudely awoke me that morning. I cautiously lifted my head from where it was resting on Magnus's shoulder and felt the blush creeping onto my cheeks again at the thought of how we had slept. My eyelids felt too heavy to keep open, so I fished my phone out of my pocket to check the time. Seven am. I had had two hours of sleep.

I scoured the room in search of the source of noise and eventually, a tall man with messy white-blond hair stepped into my line of vision. Blinking a few times to get rid of the irritating blur in front of my eyes, I stared at Valentine as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared right back at me. Instantly, I straightened my back and shuffled away from Magnus on the couch. He was still fast asleep, as was Clary, who was curled up on the chair beside us, a red blanket draped over her small frame.

"Good morning Mr. Morgenstern..." I said, my voice groggy and sleepy, as I stretched my arms. Digging my palms into my eyes to relieve some of the exhaustion, I felt my heart beating loudly and wondered why on Earth that was happening. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the judging stare of Valentine upon me, burning into my skin. When I finally glanced back at Sebastian's father, he was no longer watching me with that scrutinizing gaze. He was looking at Magnus. How anyone could look at him with the disgust that Valentine's expression held was beyond me. The boy was adorable, still in yesterday's clothing, his usually perfectly styled hair strewn all over the place and sticking up in every direction. There were smudges of dark blue under his eyes, what I assumed to be what remained of his eyeliner. The glitter that was always gelled into his hair has spread down to his neck and shoulders. Not even Sebastian looked this good straight out of bed.

"He's an odd one isn't he," Valentine stated, his upper lip curled in disdain.

"He's uh, different yes."

"Why does no one tell him he dresses like a fag?" The words injured me like they were a personal attack. I knew he couldn't possibly mean to offend me, but obviously he had. Valentine Morgenstern, I had decided, was either very ignorant, very incompetent, or very very rude. A more accurate guess would be that he was actually all three of these things. "You are the priest's son, are you not?"

"My dad isn't a priest anymore, but yeah, he was once."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about Magnus Bane turning you then."

"Thank goodness for that," I couldn't help the sarcasm dripping in my tone. Apparently, me internally praying that he hadn't caught on to it had not worked as he gave me a look of angered confusion and took a forceful step towards me. I nearly flinched. Briskly, he knelt down on one knee in front of me and began speaking in, what I was sure was, the most patronizing tone he could muster.

"I'm off to work now Alexander. Do look after my darling children, won't you?"

With that, Valentine stormed out of the room and slammed the door. A very mature way of dealing with things. The intense slamming of the door seemed to rouse Magnus, as I felt him shuffling around beside me, followed by an exhausted groan. I chuckled and ran my hand through my messy bed hair, suddenly aware that I probably looked indescribably awful. After a whole day of suffering with a hangover yesterday and then only two hours of sleep, it was likely I appeared as though death was upon me. Magnus sat up too quickly it seemed, as he shut his eyes tight before opening them wide, like I used to when I took off my glasses before I got contacts. It was adorable, especially with his big cat eyes. When he saw me, a cute smile played on his lips and I returned it.

"That's a good look for you, yaknow," he mocked, his voice laced with fatigue.

"What? The 'I've been awake for twenty-two hours' look?"

"No. The glitter." Magnus smirked at me and reached his hand out to brush a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. When he pulled his hand back, there were little sparkles of blue and silver glitter littered across it and I couldn't help but glance down at my own hand I'd used to brush my hair back before. I was covered in the stuff. I figured it must have rubbed off of Magnus on to me where we had slept so close together. With a small groan, yet still with a goofy smile plastered onto my face, I messed up my hair trying to rid myself of it but probably just ended up evening it out more. Throatily, Magnus laughed at me. "Good luck. It doesn't come out for weeks."

"Fantastic," I joked, glancing at him from the side and quirking up the corner of my lip. I seemed to remember Sebastian lecturing me on how effective a glance from the side could be, and I was really just trying to copy his flirtatious acts. It was likely that I looked a complete imbecile. My suspicions were confirmed as the other boy laughed out loud at me and shoved my shoulder gently with his own. I laughed with him and shook my head in embarrassment at my own behavior. That was the last time I was going to follow Sebastian's advice on how to impress Magnus. "Seriously though, I can't exactly say that glitter is really my thing."

"Why? Don't think your boyfriend will be into it?"

"Sebastian isn't my boyfriend."

"Funny how you knew who I meant, isn't it?" He was giving me that look that Camille was giving me yesterday at lunch. A knowing look. Luckily however, this look was not as intimidating and creepy on Magnus as it was on Camille. I decided my easiest way out of this awkward topic was to just dismiss it, so I chuckled like he was joking. Catching on to my discomfort, Magnus played along, laughing with me again and dropping the subject.

"We never did start our assignment yaknow..." I remembered suddenly, looking over at the boy beside me with a worried expression. The last thing I wanted was to let whatever I had with him, or whatever bond we were forming, get in the way of my schoolwork. I thought I was doing reasonably well with my grades, but once I started to fall behind, I'd lose it. It's a difficult thing to keep up good grades when I was constantly being dragged down by Sebastian, Jordan and Jace. Maia, fortunately, was quite a good influence on all of us.

"I'm not in the mood for you to be comparing me to a summer's day right now, Alexander."

"Thou art more lovely and more temperate," I replied, in my best 'Sebastian being seductive' tone impression. This seemed to amuse Magnus, as he let out a quiet chuckle, but quickly hushed when the loud rumble of someone coming down the stairs sounded. Sebastian, I assumed, when I heard how heavy footed this person was, and I was correct. He entered the room mid-yawn, one arm stretched up and the other rubbing his right eye. His pale blond hair was a messy pile on his head and there were dark shadows under his black eyes, though I wasn't sure why. I was nearly certain that he was asleep when I had left his room to get a drink. Perhaps he had woken up in the night and been unable to lull himself back to sleep without knowing I was there. I internally laughed at how arrogant I was becoming. Just because I had decided I was into Sebastian, it did not in any way mean that he was into me. Magnus though, well that was possible. Also rather unlikely, but I still assumed it was possible.

"Were you down here all night?" Sebastian asked me, and I almost thought he sounded very vaguely offended. His eyes passed over me and onto Magnus, where his face screwed up in scrutiny. He and his father looked at Magnus in the exact same way, and that thought alone made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I came down to get some water, but then..." I glanced over at Magnus and we shared a smile and a slight chuckle. For a moment, I figured that may have made things seem a little different than they were, but my best friend didn't seem to care much. He sat himself down on the coffee table in front of us and blew his light hair out of his eyes.

"Jordan and Jace are on their way over."

"Already!?"

"We have school, moron, of course already."

"Oh God, I forgot!" I jumped up and made a mad dash for the stairs, rushing up and into Sebastian's room. Why anyone had let me stay up so late on a school night was beyond me.

**Magnus.**

As I watched him scurry up the stairs in his mad frenzy, I wondered why he didn't just go into school the way he was. His black hair had started to curl in places, which was incredibly adorable, and it was like lack of sleep was somehow bringing the spark back to his striking blue eyes. It struck me that I was still gazing dreamily after him when Sebastian awkwardly cleared his throat and snapped his fingers in front of me. I shot him a glare that he returned without consideration before lightening his mood slightly.

"I'll get you something of mine to wear, Bane. Do what you have to do with it, rip it, and cover it in glitter. I know you have to make a statement."

"Charming that you pay enough attention to me to know exactly what I'm going to do to spice up your boring outfits."

"You're infuriatingly difficult to ignore."

"That's the statement."

He trudged off up the stairs. Carefully, as one would approach a frightened animal, I walked over to where Clary was still curled up asleep on the chair and poked her cheek until she awoke. She stared at me in puzzlement for a moment before her eyes snapped wide open and she fell right out of her make-shift bed. Helping her back to her feet, I couldn't help but chuckle. In the same way Alec had done, she frantically ran for the stairs to prepare herself for the school day, barging past her brother who was on his way down holding a pair of dark blue jeans and a black, long sleeved top. I groaned out loud as he handed me the clothing and he rolled his dark eyes at me. Reluctantly, I went into the downstairs bathroom, showered and then dressed myself in the plain and simple atrocity. When I exited the room, everybody was already in by the door putting on their shoes. Alec's coal coloured hair was still shimmering blue and silver in places, which made me smirk. We were matching for the day. I slipped into my shoes as the honking of Jordan's truck sounded outside.

It was once again a tight squeeze, but it was more efficient than walking overall. I was stuck in between Sebastian and Alec.

"Don't sit too close Bane; I'm not up for joining your glitter club. Is Alec your new recruit?"

Alec's cheeks darkened to red and he diverted his gaze to stare out the window as Jace, Jordan and Sebastian all laughed at him. The only thing that struck me as odd today was that Clary had not made a single negative comment towards Jace. I found myself wondering if the two had figured out their differences because of Jace's incessant pestering and the less reasonable part of my head hoped that wasn't the case. As much as I would have loved for Clary to be happy no matter whom it was with, I would have much preferred her to stick with Simon. They were best friends and he was quite perfect for her from what I saw anyway. Perhaps they weren't really relationship material, but I honestly believed Clary deserved a lot better than scum like Jace Lightwood. I found myself suddenly feeling quite awful for thinking so horribly of Alec's brother, though it was not as though I owed him anything. Jace and Alec seemed to be nothing alike anyway, but I was certain Alec would probably still be offended, which was a difficult thought.

* * *

I had my last period before our break with Camille, and we walked together slowly while she gossiped. Unfortunately, I did not find her latest scoop even remotely interesting. That was of course, until she brought up Alec.

"Alexander will be so disappointed!"

"Huh?"

"Oh I see, so now you want to listen? Sebastian and Jace are back on drugs."

"How incredibly attractive."

Camille nodded. "Mostly weed. My poor little Alec…"

"What does that have to do with Alec?"

"Do you listen to anything I say?" She sighed in exasperation and stopped her slow strides, leaning back against someone's locker. I stood in front of her. For once, I was genuinely interested in what Camille had to say. Everyone in this school seemed to know Alec's business (he was a popular after all) but I had never really seen it as significant to me, so I tended to ignore all the talk about him and all the other populars. Evidently, I had missed out on some major details. "When Alec was a freshman, at the end of the year, him and Sebastian got caught with drugs and were going to be expelled. Turns out, they'd been doing weed since the beginning of the school year. That was back when Alec was more like Sebastian, always in trouble, terrible grades, out every night all night, remember?"

I pondered over it for a while. In all honesty, I had never bothered examining the populars before. I barely even knew who Alec was until around last year when he got all mad at Sebastian for picking on Simon once. Alec had taken my side that day when I was screaming obscenities at his best friend all because he pushed Simon into some lockers. "I don't recall him ever being like that. Was he?"

She stared at me like I had just told her I didn't know who George Washington was. "Yes! How do you think he got popular Magnus!?"

"I just figured he was only with them because his brother was."

"Well no. Alec was just like them once. He was incompetent, impertinent, ignorant, insufferable, all the _**'I's'**_ Magnus, all the _**'I's'**_!"

"All the _**'I's'**_? Well it's a good thing that now he's only _**I**_ncredibly attractive."

Camille rolled her big round eyes at me and we made our way to class. I tried to picture Alec behaving in the same way that his idiotic friends did now, but the mental image just wouldn't come to me. Alec was far too lovely for that to be possible. I wondered if almost getting expelled is what brought him to his senses. Then, I started to ponder over what made him ever begin to act like that. Maybe he had some sort of family problems he never told anyone about, but then surely that would have affected his sister Isabelle too, and as far as I knew, she was a wonderful, quiet girl and always had been. She had made some pretty bad choices in boys (she was beautiful and could probably get whoever she wanted and yet she chose Sebastian for a whole year) but other than that, she was very intelligent. Alec clearly had some inner demons. As we started walking again, I had an internal debate with myself over whether or not I should ask him about it, but my overall conclusion was that it would be probably be for the best that I didn't pry into Alexander's personal business. I didn't even know what was going on between us; were we even friends? I figured he'd probably never speak to me again once we finished our assignment. Groaning out loud, I realised that the thought of that was actually vaguely upsetting. I was starting to get attached to him. Him and his perfect black hair and his beautiful blue eyes.

Our History lesson went by quickly as our teacher lectured us about God knows what and Camille made faces at me across the class. The bell for lunch rang and everyone darted for the door, the class clearing within seconds. Camille and I were no exception, grabbing our bags and rushing for the door to get to the lunch hall. On our way there unfortunately, Camille preoccupied herself with a small group of minors who wanted to gossip about Isabelle's new boyfriend or something ghastly like that. Since I was in no way engaged with this conversation, I left her to it. Camille had a lot of friends around the school, and it wasn't often that she sat with us anyway.

I caught up with Simon on my may, and he seemed extremely distraught that Clary had 'ditched him to go on a date with some asshole. Definitely Jace'. It was a pretty petty thing to get all worked up about, but I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the guy; he quite clearly liked Clary an awful lot and he always had.

"It's not just Clary either; Tessa's been off with that girl Jordan's dating? Yeah, well, she's in her textiles class and apparently that's her new best buddy." He threw his arms into the air in an exaggerated manner. I knew he didn't mean to be upset with Tessa. It was obvious he was just so down about Clary being into someone else. "They're all acting like Camille, just jumping at the chance to fit in with some other group." That, I couldn't help but agree with. That was pretty much a perfect description of the way Camille was last year. Now, however, she no longer had to jump at the opportunity. She was in with everybody.

As we entered the crowded lunch hall and made our way to our usual table, I smiled at Tessa, who was sat there with Maia. I could hear Simon grunt, and knew he was rolling his eyes without even looking at him. Maia got up and collected her things when she saw us approaching, scurrying back to her populars. I caught a glimpse of slightly curly black hair and grinned to myself.

"Bane!"

I recognized the voice before I turned my head. Tessa, Simon and I all stared with equally puzzled expressions as Sebastian Morgenstern signaled me over to his table. Without a second thought, I got up and went to join them. I was just interested. Simon's hand gently grabbed my wrist and I whipped around, realization hitting me hard.

"You too, huh?"

"Simon, I-"

"No. You go. Have fun with your new 'buddies'. _**Bane.**_" He spat my last name like it was poison on his tongue and stormed away from our table. I yelled after him, but he was away with his back up group of freaks and I sighed, defeated.

"Yeesh!" I heard Jordan yell, as his group let out stifled laughter. "He's like a jealous boyfriend!"

My brow furrowing and my fists clenching and unclenching at their own will, I went right up to their table and sent a harsh glare at the pale blond boy.

"What the hell do you want, Sebastian!?" I growled through clenched teeth, but he just lazily smirked at me and leant forward. When he spoke, his voice was purposefully louder than necessary.

"I just wanted you to let your little friend _**Simon **_know," he put emphasis on Simon's name. Within seconds, the brown haired boy was by my side.

"Let Simon know _what_?" Simon asked with ice in his tone. It was most confident I had seen him in front of Sebastian in a long while, and I was almost proud. I couldn't help the smirk that was playing on the corners of my mouth. Simon was strong and for once, not intimidated at all by the populars.

"That my darling little sister has made her decision. Jace is a lot more suited to her tastes than you ever were," Sebastian spat, rousing up a storm of laughter from both Jace and Jordan. My blood turned to ice. Over the past few days, I had completely forgotten how cruel and menacing Sebastian really was.

"You know what," Simon started, taking a confident step towards the table despite the break in his voice. He sounded as though he would burst into tears any moment. I willed him not to do so. "I'm done holding my tongue for Camille." Beside me, I saw Alec tense in his seat, as though he had just realised something overwhelmingly important that he had been oblivious to before. "I know what I saw. At Aline's party in the back yard. I saw you kiss Alec, Sebastian!"

Just like that, it was like everyone was frozen in place. Alec's bright blue eyes were wide, petrified and swimming with concern. Jordan and Jace were both staring at Sebastian, utter disbelief evident on their paling faces. Maia just stared at Simon, like she couldn't quite comprehend what had just come out of his mouth. The whole lunch hall, it seemed, had fallen quiet and the silence was deadly. Sebastian was not quite as expressionless as usual. His face was twisting into an outraged glare as he got up from his seat and approached Simon, whose confidence seemed to melt away. He was rooted in place and Sebastian grabbed him in a violent grip with one hand around his throat.

"You make an accusation like that again, and I'll knock your teeth down the back of your throat." With that, he threw Simon onto the ground and kicked him with brute force in the ribs.

"Sebastian," it was Alec, grabbing his friend by the arm and pulling him away from Simon. The pale blond boy spent one more moment on Simon to stare him down with scrutiny before he was towed back to his seat.

"Is that true Sebastian..?" Jordan asked, his voice laced with disgust.

"Of course it isn't you moron!"

But it was.

It all made sense. Alec had told me he had kissed a guy that night, and who else would it be? Despite my suspicions about them, I never once thought it would be Sebastian.

Carefully, I hoisted Simon back to his feet, reassuring him as I started to guide him away from the wretched populars. A cold hand gripped my wrist on the arm that was not wrapped around Simon and I heard Alec's innocent plea of my name. Gingerly, I shook off his hand and shot him a glare.

"You do not have touching rights, Alexander."

We left the hall without any further interruptions.

**Alec.**

Luckily, Sebastian had convinced everyone that Simon's claims were false once all the hype has calmed down a little. I was still too shook by the whole fiasco to be too involved in the conversation at my table, and Maia was the only one with any sympathy for me, sitting as close to me as possible just for comfort. They all just assumed the fighting upset me.

"Well, I think it's given who's gonna win this bet," Jace said smugly. "I'm in there with Clary already, and Alec doesn't even have touching rights yet!" It was intended as a joke, but it hurt me almost as much as it had the first time when Magnus's words had cut into me like a knife. I was smiling, but the pain was still there.

"You may as well pay up now Sebastian," Jordan said, holding his hand out expectantly.

"No one has seen Clary and Jace do anything but bicker yet. She has told me she is interested in you, but nothing more." Jace and Jordan groaned out loud before they went back to their usual chatter.

* * *

The end of the day came quickly after that, but as I made my way to the parking lot, I did not at all expect to be yanked off into a closet. My back slammed hard against the wall and I heard the door being slammed and the lock bolted. I whimpered and rubbed the back of my head as the lights were flicked on.

"What are you not telling me?" It was Sebastian, and he looked pissed.

"How did Simon know about the kiss? And what did he mean about holding his tongue for Camille? Don't play dumb Alec, just tell me." I had never seen Sebastian so mad at me before, and I found it all a little dizzying. However, I knew I had to tell him. "Alec!" He shouted, taking another step towards me.

"Alright! Alright...Simon and Camille were the couple out there when we..." I couldn't pull the word out and Sebastian rolled his eyes at me before willing me to go on. "Camille's been holding it over me ever since."

"Alec!" My best friend sighed, and he sounded exhausted. "Why didn't you just tell me about this?"

"I didn't want it bothering you..."

"You're an idiot. Does anyone else know? Have you told anyone?"

"Of course I haven't! Though...I may have mentioned to Magnus that I kissed someone that night. I'm sure he can probably put two and two together...Sebastian, what are we gonna do about this!?"

Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the door. "We can't do anything until we figure out who knows the truth. You'll need to get it out of Bane."

I sighed. "He wants nothing to do with me."

"Bullshit. I've seen the way he looks at you Alec, and it's the exact same way you look at me." He was smirking suddenly. I felt myself getting dizzy again.

"What?"

"Let's not waste time pretending now; I know you're into me."

"Stop being so insensitive!" I snapped, and his smirk lightened into an apologetic smile.

"Anyway, you're staying over tonight. We're gonna need to prepare you for your next little study session with Bane. Don't get too scared, but you're going to need to learn to be seductive and sexy."

I groaned as Sebastian dragged me out of the little closet and out to the parking lot. I had been dreading this part since the minute the bet was placed.


	6. Ouch

**Hey everyone :)**

**So, I decided that, depending on how well this chapter does, I might start updating every Sunday! I'll confirm it in the next chapter if necessary. **

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! They are so encouraging and lovely and so much fun to read. I really love hearing what you all think of what I write, it really helps. Plus, I like to include what some of you guys think should happen, so if you see something in this fic that you suggested, REPRESENT;) But seriously, I LOVE REVIEWS! Especially the long ones, they get me so excited and inspired:') **

**Anyway !NOTE ABOUT THIS CHAPTER! **

**It's kinda sad. Since I'm planning for this fic to be pretty long, I couldn't have Magnus and Alec getting together straight away or there wouldn't be much more to do. SO don't worry, the Malec is coming, it is not dead!**

**Also, A LOT of you guys who have reviewed asked for more SebAlec, so if you're not really into that ship, sorry guys, but the majority of readers really wanted it! So for you guys who were excited for the SebAlec, here's what you've been waiting for;) And there's more to come. **

**ENJOYYYY!**

* * *

**Magnus.**

It wasn't until the end of that day that I decided to question Simon about the events that had unfolded in the lunch hall. Also, it was probably a good idea to mention it in front of Clary, considering she had no way of knowing about her brother's antics unless someone were to bring it up; and Simon obviously wasn't going to.

"Simon...We need to talk about it. Tell me what you saw happen between Alec and Sebastian." I demanded, stopping halfway across the hall and swiveling to stand in front of the two of them. Simon groaned out loud while Clary just stared at him, baffled.

"Alright. Camille and I were in the backyard and we were...sort of making out, a little bit, but that was only because I had no idea what was going on. That's when Alec and Sebastian came outside. It was pretty dark and I was _**really**_ drunk, but I know what I saw you guys! They were talking for a while and then Sebastian just went straight in and kissed him. Camille saw it all too if you don't believe me!" Simon rambled, and Clary was still staring at him, but rather than confused she looked mildly horrified. It must have been quite the revelation for her.

"You were _**kissing Camille**_?" Clary whispered, her voice high pitched in pure disbelief. It was a surprise that this part of the story was what she had picked out as odd rather than her straight brother kissing a guy.

"Did Alec kiss him back?" I found the words tumbling out of my mouth before I even had time to process them. Simon simply nodded at me and continued a hushed argument with Clary that I wasn't even remotely interested in. As close as I was to both of them, their petty disputes meant naught to me until one of them was genuinely upset rather than just mad. It wasn't as if I could pick a side anyway. Best to just leave them to it.

In the hall a little ahead of us, a door that was off to the side opened and Sebastian emerged from it, looking around rather suspiciously. Reaching his hand back into the room, he pulled out an exhausted and puzzled looking Alec and they took off towards the parking lot before I had the time to make sense of it. Had they just been...? No. I dismissed the thoughts before they formed.

"More importantly!" Simon yelled suddenly, bringing his whispered disagreements with Clary to a full-fledged argumentative level. "You're asshole brother tried to kill me!"

"Don't call him that!"

"We both know it's true!"

"Yeah, it is, but you can't say it!"

I sighed out loud, turning my attention to the two of them and starting to tow Simon away from Clary by his wrist before things got too out of hand and they started with the name-calling. That, as pathetic as it was, always ended in tears, and I wasn't quite in the mood for that today. My head hurt and I needed to be at home. Just the thought of a warm cup of coffee and Simon for company was enough to lighten my mood slightly.

"Give it up Simon," I said, cutting off his incoherent yelling. "Just come over to my place and we'll forget about this whole thing."

Simon sighed in defeat, but his face lighted to a smile as he started to walk along side me. He was partial to being dragged to places. "That sounds good."

"He didn't really try to kill you, you know."

"Yes he did, Magnus!"

"He kicked you one time..."

**Alec.**

The only thing that was different about Sebastian's house when we got there was the absence of his mother. I figured she must have been shopping or something because I didn't believe she actually had a job. As far as I knew, all the money was provided by Valentine.

Sebastian and I quickly got out of our shoes and headed upstairs to his room. The floor, as usual, was a complete mess, covered in clothes, school books, some of Clary's art supplies and empty water bottles that he obviously needed because of how damn hot his room always was. The bed was un-made. The only thing that was strange about his room was the bare walls. Everywhere else in the house, the walls were covered with Clary and her mother's paintings, but Sebastian had none. In fact, his walls were completely white and nothing was dotted around on them like I had expected the first time I had been here.

He sat himself down on the messy bed and patted beside him. Cautiously, I joined him, leaning back against the wall and bringing my knees up to my chest. On the small desk beside his bed, there was a single framed picture of Sebastian and I taken by Clary. In the image, both of us were holding bottles of beer (it was on one of the rare occasions that Jocelyn had gone away for a while with her husband, so the Morgenstern's had thrown a house party) and were caught in laughter. It was a perfect moment to capture since Clary had always been really great with her photography. Unfortunately, we were both really dumb and had our hair styles exactly the same, were wearing almost identical clothes and obviously thought we were the height of fashion. We were freshmen and we were unbelievably naive and lame. I could see the bloody cut below my eye where I had recently been in a fight (which was obviously extremely cool). Despite all the flaws of the picture, it was highly amusing to look back on.

I had been so caught up in my thoughts I hadn't even noticed that Sebastian was talking. Quickly, I regained my composure and tried my best to look like I had been listening.

"-so you're going to need to be ready for anything with him." I nodded, pretending I agreed with whatever point he was making. "Alec, you're an awful actor." He pushed me lightly and I couldn't help but chuckle quietly before apologizing. "Maybe you should try to initiate it...It might happen quicker that way."

"Okay, Sebastian, I appreciate your faith in me to be a fabulous initiator, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Just try and make a move on me moron."

I thought about this for a moment. Never before had I been in a situation where I had to 'make a move' on someone and as per usual, I had pretty much no idea what I was doing. However, it was for the best that I didn't just get all embarrassed and whine about not being able to do it; I was just going to make an attempt. Maybe I'd have to summon my inner freshman self. I was outgoing enough to do literally anything back then. If anyone gave me a challenge I'd take it in both hands and you could bet I'd find a way to do the impossible. That was the good thing about me back then. Granted, it was the only good thing, but at least I have something to brag about now. Not that I ever did that anyway.

As discreetly as I found possible, I shuffled closer to Sebastian on the bed and he turned to face me. His dark eyes were empty to me, and his expression was as unreadable as ever. Nonchalantly, I moved my face closer to his. I didn't seem to have done anything wrong yet since he wasn't stopping me or staring in pure disappointment.

"Sebastian..." I whispered, in what was supposed to be a sensual breath, but probably hadn't come out that way. When I saw the ghost of a smirk playing on the corners of his lips, my mouth twitched up into a humiliated smile. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing." I whispered huskily and he burst into a fit of laughter, with me following suit. We snorted and howled for a while longer, my head falling onto his shoulder, before we settled again.

"Okay," he started, resting his head atop my own. "We clearly have quite a bit of work to do on that."

"Are you going to make me do things that make me feel awkward and uncomfortable then?" I said, knowing the answer to my question before it left my lips. Silence lingered in the air for a long while, but I knew Sebastian had the same stupid smile on his face as I did without even looking at him.

"What am I gonna do with you Alexander?" he joked, finally breaking the silence. He pushed me back up so we were sitting opposite each other. Suddenly, he got up and casually walked to the other side of the room, leaving me alone on the bed. Shrugging in acceptance, I leant back against the wall again and watched him carefully. "So here's what you're gonna do." He said, still with his back to me. Without another word, he opened the doors to his wardrobe and bent down to start rooting through things at the very bottom. His actions made his jeans, that were already tighter than any other jeans I'd ever seen him wear (I was almost certain Sebastian had stolen them from Clary) get a whole lot tighter. I blushed heavily when I caught myself staring at his ass and tried to avert my gaze before he turned around and spotted me. It was embarrassing, but I really couldn't bring myself to look away. All in one quick movement, Sebastian straightened his back and turned around to see me staring with a bright red face that only grew redder every second longer that he stared at me, all the time with that suggestive look on his face. "Then," he began again, making his way back round the bed, running his hand across the bed sheets as he went. "Once you've got his attention, you can start getting a little more full on. Leave it few minutes though." And so he did. We sat in a vaguely uncomfortable silence for a while. Sebastian did add a comment about making sure I got my laptop out when I bent down in front of Magnus, since that way this part wouldn't be as uncomfortable. It was only then that I really came to terms with the fact that Sebastian was technically role playing here. He was me and I was Magnus and this was exactly how my next study session with Magnus was supposed to occur. I guessed that this meant it would be necessary for me to find some way to convince Magnus to come over to my place.

"It's hot in here right?" I realized the period of silence must be over and simply nodded at Sebastian slowly, yet still studying him closely. A smirk formed on his face before he swiftly removed his shirt and threw it off into the corner of the room. My jaw dropped instantly, and I was gawking before I could stop myself. It wasn't like I hadn't seen Sebastian shirtless before, we generally slept like this, but it was just so unexpected. The fact that he had clearly had been maintaining his six pack was the first thing I really noticed and then the light scar in the middle of his chest. I remembered it happening, but quickly suppressed the memory and kept my thoughts in the moment. The scar was like Sebastian's beautiful flaw. The one thing that kept him from being much too perfect. If it weren't for the memories it brought me, his scar would probably be my favorite part of Sebastian to look at. It struck me that I'd never touched it before and for some reason, I was instantly longing to do so. And then of course, I did. On impulse, I reached my hand over and gently brushed my fingers over it. It was cold, unlike the rest of his body that radiated great heat. He didn't at all tense under my touch but instead, just stared into my eyes with a pained expression like there was something he wanted to say or do, but he couldn't bring himself too. Very unlike Sebastian. I pulled my hand back slowly and continued to openly stare at him.

"Like what you see?" he breathed out huskily, making me all red in the face again as I just nodded. It seemed to be all I was capable of doing. "You're not a very believable Magnus, you know. If this was real and I was you and you were him, you know what he would be doing right now?"

"No...What?"

"Well certainly not just sitting there like an oblivious idiot." Sebastian unexpectedly spun over, straddling my hips and leaning down to whisper in my air. "He would be making you his own." There was a hint of something that wasn't sensual in Sebastian's voice. I couldn't make out what it was before he started placing rough kisses on my neck and all my thoughts went into a crazed frenzy. He sucked on a spot above my collar bone and I gasped in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Sebastian placed one gentle, almost apologetic kiss on the spot before he ran his tongue up my neck and kissed me. It was hardly gentle. The kiss was full of passion and desire and a want for something so much more than this and I just couldn't refrain myself from kissing him back. I wrapped my arms around his waist pulling him harder against me and he tangled one of his hands in my hair, tugging it lightly earning a moan from me that I literally could not keep in. With his free hand, Sebastian began pushing my shirt up. Eventually, he got it up and over my hand and was running his hand down my bare chest, over the muscles with one finger outlining each one. I felt the blush returning to my cheeks and quickly pulled him back down so our lips collided again. Shocking even myself, I had instigated a kiss between Sebastian and I, and a very heated one at that. His tongue slipping into my mouth gave me chills but this time, I did not abruptly stop him. I could not bear too. It was clear I had been craving this for longer than I had realized. As Sebastian's hand travelled down my body once again, my breathing was getting heavier, my heart beat increasing in speed too. He stopped at the waistband of my jeans and all too quickly, jumped off of me and went to retrieve his shirt.

Sitting up, confused and disappointed, I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on along with Sebastian. He was suddenly thrusting my bag into my hand and pushing me towards the door.

"Go home, call Magnus. Get him to come over. And don't forget what I showed you today." I definitely wasn't going to forget, I thought as the door slammed behind me. I shrugged, accepting the situation and left the Morgenstern's to walk home.

On my way back, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and suddenly hesitated over Magnus's number. What if Sebastian's techniques didn't work on Magnus? And then, what if they did? Would things go further with Magnus than they had with Sebastian? Honestly, I was terrified of the idea of it, since even when Sebastian came close to getting a lot further than I knew about or had ever gone before, I was growing more and more scared by the second. It was a little disappointing that we didn't get to it, but also vaguely relieving since I didn't know that I was ready. Rolling my eyes at myself, I dialed the number and brought the phone up to my ear. He answered after three rings.

"Yes?" Magnus sounded unhappy, and like he wanted to get back to something. I felt awful for wanting to pull him away from whatever he was doing, but I felt this aching need to do so.

"Are you busy?"

"A little, why?" His tone relaxed slightly.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over to work on the assignment..." I suddenly remembered something that I thought would convince Magnus to come for sure. "My parents won't be home. Jace is at Jordan's. It's just Izzy and my little brother Max and they won't...like..." I broke off, not wanting to say anything more.

"Won't what? Judge my every move because I'm gay?"

"Well, yeah, that."

There was a long pause, and I felt my palms getting sweaty.

"Alright. Simon's leaving now anyway, so I don't see why not."

"Great!" That, I realized, had sounded way too enthusiastic, as I heard Magnus chuckle at me down the phone and even at that, I felt heat on my cheeks.

"I'll see you soon, Alexander."

Magnus hung up.

**Magnus.**

I texted Alec about his address and we met halfway. Turns out, he didn't really live that far from me and, contrary to Camille's beliefs, he did not live in the Christian neighborhood. Just off the side from it. It was an uncomfortable place for me to be, but I tried to ignore the feeling and just focus on being with Alec for now. I was still a little pissed at him for not interfering with the whole Sebastian situation sooner, but I could get over that. Simon had done. Also, I decided not to bother lying to myself about how jealous I was of Sebastian at this point. I thought back on my brief discussion with Simon over a cup of coffee. It had been surprisingly helpful.

_"Simon," I began, picking up my cup and holding it in both hands, trying to take whatever heat I could from it, since my small apartment was becoming unbearably cold for some reason. Simon looked at me over his cup and urged me to go on. "I think I like Alec." At this, the brunette nearly spat his coffee out every, out quickly shielded his mouth with his arm and swallowed in one, huge gulp._

_"Alec? As in Alec Lightwood?"_

_"Yes, as in Alec Lightwood. I guess...What you said today about seeing him kiss Sebastian-"_

_"Sebastian kissed him." Simon interrupted, and I guessed he was trying to make me feel better, which made me smile involuntarily._

_"Seeing Sebastian kiss him then...Well, it made me pretty envious of him. And I don't like denying things to myself so I'm just gonna come out and say it, I honestly think I like him."_

_"Well...Magnus, I don't wanna be a downer, but he's a popular. And he's Sebastian's popular. If you ever wanna get anywhere near Alec for real, then you have to tear him away from Seb a little first," Simon explained, setting his coffee cup down on the table so he could exaggerate his point with hand movements, a cute habit of his. "I'm not saying there can't even be something between the two of you, because there definitely could be. Alec's actually a pretty reasonable guy. It's just that no one can really have what Sebastian wants. And if Sebastian kissing Alec really meant anything, then you've got a lot of work to do."_

Really, he made an interesting point. I had thought about it a lot since then and he was so very right. Sebastian was keeping Alec for himself.

When we eventually arrived at Alec's house, he was jumped on by a young boy, who looked around eleven years old, and squeezed in a tight hug. Alec let out a low chuckle while I took of my shoes and hugged, who I assumed was his younger brother, back.

"Hey Max," he said, ruffling the young boy's hair.

"Who's this?" Max questioned, turning to face me with a polite smile. I wondered if all the Lightwood's were actually genuinely kind and caring people and Jace was just a strange exception.

"Magnus Bane," I replied, returning his welcoming smile. "I'm Alec's friend."

Alec's brother nodded at me and held out his hand, which I shook in a friendly manner, realizing how mature Max was despite the fact he didn't look very old at all. I couldn't help but notice he had a shirt on with a reference to a comic book Simon was reading. As if on cue, Max started to ramble on to his big brother about the comic and I held back a laugh as Alec very blatantly feigned interest. I was sure Max would pick up on that; he seemed like an intelligent kid. Confirming my suspicions, the little boy punched Alec lightly on the arm and ran off into the living room, where I could hear the blaring sound system playing some crappy new pop song. I didn't really think Isabelle was the type for all that, but I ignored it. Heading up the stairs, Alec signaled for me to follow and I complied.

Alec's room was huge. He had a double bed with plain black bed sheets and the walls were painted a pleasant shade of blue. There was a desk off in the far corner that was a few shades darker than the walls. The color scheme of the room seemed to be blue and black, which I thought was either deliberate or just extremely coincidental considering Alec's appearance; he's striking blue eyes and beautiful black hair. I didn't see Alec as the vain type. No way had he modeled his entire room off of his own stunning good lucks. That seemed more of a Jace thing. Throwing his bag into the corner, Alec jumped onto his own bed and scooted over to make room for me even though he didn't really need to. I sat down in the space, making myself comfortable. We talked briefly about the project before Alec got up to get his laptop from the end of the bed. As he bent down to retrieve it, I noticed he lingered there a little too long, and cocked an eyebrow. I couldn't help noticing how perfect his ass looked in such tight jeans; and then it dawned on me. He was trying to show himself off a little, and I barely stopped myself smirking at the realization as he crossed the bed and sat back beside me, a little closer than he had been previously.

There were a few moments of a silence that wasn't at all awkward as he turned on his laptop and started researching some of Shakespeare's sonnets. A moment passed and turned into a lot more than a moment, lingering for a long time before Alec cut off the quiet break.

"It's pretty hot in here..."

"Why don't you just take your shirt off?" I said, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively as his face heated up and he looked away. It was adorable. Unexpectedly, he turned to face me again, and though his cheeks were still flaming, when he spoke, there was a confidence in his tone that I had never heard from him before.

"Good idea." With that, he removed his shirt swiftly and flung it off to the side. I was gawking before I could stop myself. Alec's chest was muscular and perfect and, good Lord, he had a six pack. I felt a longing ache to reach out and touch him but I refrained myself from doing so, not wanting to scare him off. When I had been staring for what only seemed like seconds but was probably a lot longer, he whispered huskily. "Like what you see?" All I could think about in that moment was kissing him and it wasn't long before I was.

**Alec.**

Magnus's lips on mine were a comforting reassurance that I wasn't just making a fool of myself trying to copy Sebastian. It was a heated and passionate kiss as Magnus shifted his body so that he was straddling my hips and all I could think about then was Magnus. Everything about him. I wanted to touch him and I wasn't about to hold myself back now. Cautiously and with a shaky hand I lifted his shirt, urging him to remove it, which he did. Magnus wasn't as fragile as I had expected, and he actually had quite a bit of muscle. To my surprise, he was even sexier than I thought he'd be, placing gentle kissing on my neck before running his tongue up and kissing me again. Unwillingly, I started to think about Sebastian and all the things we had done together that very same day, and I suddenly started to feel vaguely disgusted with myself. How could I have let that happen? Why would Sebastian have kissed me if he didn't like me? Why did I not stop him if I didn't like him back? Then, all at once, my thoughts were pulled back to Magnus as he lightly tugged on my hair, ripping a moan from me, which he seemed very pleased with. I couldn't help it. It was like a sweet spot.

Magnus kissed his way down my body, leaving burning trails down my chest where the heat of him had once been, and stopped, hovering above the waistband of my jeans with an alluring smirk on his face. I wanted him to go on, but at the same time, I was terrified for him to do it. My thoughts were going wild and I simply couldn't comprehend the situation anymore when I saw Sebastian's eyes instead of Magnus's.

Snapping back to reality momentarily, I realized Magnus was leaning back over my face again staring at something on my neck. He looked down at me, confused and I couldn't quite place what else he was feeling, but it looked bad. I shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked, my voice a throaty whisper. "What is it?"

Tentatively, his fingers traced a small mark that was below my collar bone. I suddenly remembered Sebastian biting and sucking on the flesh there and felt my face getting hot at the memory. For a moment, I thought Magnus looked disappointed.

"Alec, I want you to be honest with me here. Where were you before you invited me over...?"

Obviously, I considered lying to him. However, I figured it would be for the best that I didn't, since I was a terrible liar anyway and he would see right through it.

"I was at Sebastian's," I replied, my tone apologetic. I knew I shouldn't be letting this happen with Magnus straight after what I'd done with Sebastian. It was...dirty. But I hadn't been thinking about that before. I'd just been thinking about how fantastic Magnus made me feel and now I felt absolutely awful. I watched as his face twisted into an expression I could only call hurt for a fraction of a second before things got bad. Magnus was mad, and he had every right to be. Pulling himself off of me, he yanked his shirt back on, looking like he had been stripped of his dignity and I felt a pang of guilt. "Magnus, please. I'm sorry, I-"

"I don't wanna know, Alec." He replied blankly, leaving the room and slamming the door behind him. I clambered off the bed, completely disregarding the fact I was still shirtless and followed him, catching his wrist just before he went storming out of the front door of my house. I felt my eyes tearing up but I was fighting it. I had no right to cry.

"Magnus-"

"No Alec." He shook my hand off of him and stared straight into my eyes. His own eyes held nothing but pure anger. "I don't know what game you're playing but I want no part of it. You have fun with Sebastian. I'm not going to play the whore for you Alec; I won't let you use me like that. Simon was so right about you, you know; you're Sebastian's. He's made that much clear." With that, Magnus left, and took my happiness with him. I stood, staring out the door at the empty street for a while, wondering how I could ever have been so unbelievably stupid. Magnus was so perfect and I really had been using him. I felt dirty, guilty and most of all, completely ashamed.

* * *

That night was awful. When my parents had arrived home, they tried to talk to me, but they were literally the last people I needed for comfort right now. Isabelle had come into my room and sat with me for a while, but she didn't say anything. It was nice. Now though, it was 12 at night and I knew I was about to have the worst night sleep of my entire life. The heavy rain outside wasn't really helping my mood, or my insomnia at all. The light from my phone licked my face, the only illumination in the room. I stared at the last text I had sent Magnus.

_**'Magnus, please, I'm sorry. Please call. X' **_

And I was still waiting on that call. I'd sent the text about an hour after he had left, and here I was, desperately praying he would call me. Of course he wasn't going to; who could blame him? I had treated him like absolute shit and I cursed myself as I felt my eyes watering. Who did I think I was to cry? It was entirely my fault and I was completely disgusted. If I was feeling this way, I dreaded to even try and comprehend how Magnus would be feeling right now, and all because of me.

Abruptly, my phone lit up again, and my heart stopped when I thought I had a call. I did. It was Sebastian. Reluctantly, I answered it.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, I know it's late. How did it go?"

"Awful."

"What? Alec, what the hell did you do?" Sebastian sighed.

"Magnus saw..." I gulped. "Well, when we were...and you...and..."

"Oh Alec, don't be so...Ugh, just tell me."

I sighed and made myself give him an understandable answer. "You gave me a hickey. He saw it."

"Oh...Shit."

"Yeah. Listen, I got to go Seb. I'm tired." I lied, wondering if it was as obvious over the phone, but Sebastian seemed to either fall for it or just accept the fact that I clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. He hung up shortly after, and I continued to feel wrongly sorry for myself all night.

**Magnus.**

Knocking on Simon's door at 12 at night had been a difficult decision to make, but I could really use the company right about now. I bought to coffees at the twenty-four hour shop and made my way to his house. Quietly, I knocked on the front door, assuming Simon would be up anyway, so I didn't want to unnecessarily wake his mother or sister. Fortunately, it seemed I hadn't done, when Simon opened the door in nothing but a pair of shorts and squinted his eyes at me, as he wasn't wearing his glasses. I could only imagine what I looked like. I could feel my hair flat and pasted to my forehead from the rain, which was dripping off of me everywhere. All of my makeup was smudged down my face, but the majority of that was not the rain's fault. I forced an obviously fake smile and held up the two containers of cheap coffee. Instantly, Simon allowed me in and got me a blanket and within seconds, I was crying on his shoulder. He let me be for a while, his arm wrapped around me comfortingly while I sobbed. I knew it was pathetic but I had to allow myself to let it go. I could barely remember the last time I'd cried anyway, so this was needed.

After a while, Simon spoke up. I was slightly calmer.

"Tell me what happened, Magnus..." He said, his voice laced with concern.

"Alec," I blurted out, more tears spilling at the mentioning of his name. Simon squeezed me tighter, pulling me closer to him and I tried to relax myself a little but it was so hard. "He made me think he liked me. But you were right. He's Sebastian's." Tears wouldn't stop falling not matter how hard I tried.

"You really like him, huh?" Simon said, more of a statement than a question. There was a sad smile on his face as he rubbed my arm in a soothing way. "You barely even knew him Magnus; it'll all be okay soon enough. You'll forget all about Alec whatever his last name is," he added jokingly, and I laughed but I was still crying. Simon, as usual, made a decent point. I'd met Alec only a few days ago, but he was so easy to get attached too. It seemed that Alec had reeled me in too much, and I felt like I had known him years. It was as though I'd harbored feelings for him in another life or something, and they had all come back to me when I started to get to know him again. And just as I had recollected all of these wonderful feelings for Alec, he had trod me down in the dirt. "Hey, c'mon. Let's get your mind off of him."

"I don't want too." I argued. "I want to carry on crying over him and be depressed like a girl from a bad chick flick."

"I won't allow it."

"Well do you have a better idea?"

"I have many better ideas than that."

"Can I stay here Simon? I don't really feel up for being on my own..."

"Of course you can. But you have to promise me you're not going to cry all night. Forget about Alec. He's not worth it."


End file.
